Chilean President Gabriel Boric has declared a state of emergency on Sunday for two southern regions where raging wildfires have forced about 20,000 people to evacuate their homes.

Firefighters were battling 19 blazes across the country, 12 of which were in the regions of Nuble and Biobio, south of the capital Santiago.

According to reports, the government has not said whether the fires killed anyone or how many homes had been impacted.

Alicia Cebrian, the director of the National Service for Disaster Prevention and Response, told local media that about 20,000 people had been evacuated.

She said most of the evacuations were in the Biobio cities of Penco and Lirquen, which have a combined population of around 60,000 people.

Images broadcast by local television showed the flames in both cities, with charred cars in the streets.

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