© Martin Bernetti—AFP/Getty Images Santa Olga, which was destroyed by a forest fire, on Jan. 26, 2017.
One body found in smouldering ruins of Santa Olga, the worst-hit of several smaller communities, as hot, dry weather fuels fiercest fires in recent history
An entire town has been consumed by flames in Chile as unusually hot, dry weather undermined efforts to combat the worst forest fires in the country's recent history.
More than 1,000 buildings, including schools, nurseries, shops and a post office were destroyed in Santa Olga, the biggest of several communities to be reduced to ashes in the Maule region.
One body was later recovered from the ruins. Two people are missing, but most of the residents were evacuated unharmed. Few will have a home to return to.
Drone images showed entire neighbourhoods reduced to ashes. The roads are still neatly symmetrical, but the buildings in block after block lie in smouldering ruins under a hazy sky.
Even for a region that is frequently hit by earthquakes and floods, the extent of the destruction was shocking.
"Nobody can imagine what happened in Santa Olga. What we have experienced here is literally like Dante's Inferno," said the Carlos Valenzuela, the mayor of the encompassing municipality Constitución. "We were recovering after the last earthquake, but this tragedy has messed up everything."
Comment: Chile declares 'state of catastrophe' due to worst forest fires for over a decade