SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Firefighters on Sunday battled the massive wildfires that broke out in central Chile two days earlier, as officials extended curfews in cities hardest hit by the fires and said at least 99 people had been killed.

The fires burned with great intensity around the city of Viña del Mar, where a famous botanical garden founded in 1931 was destroyed by flames on Sunday. At least 1,600 people were homeless.

Several neighborhoods on the eastern edge of Viña del Mar were engulfed in flames and smoke, trapping some people in their homes. Officials said 200 people were reported missing in Viña del Mar and surrounding areas. The city of 300,000 inhabitants is a popular seaside resort and also hosts a well-known music festival in the southern hemisphere summer.

On Sunday morning, Chilean President Gabriel Boric visited the city of Quilpé, which was also badly affected by the fires, and reported 64 deaths. In the afternoon, Chile’s forensic medical service updated the death toll to 99 people in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“We regret the tragedy that unfolded and extend our condolences to the families affected,” the agency said in a statement posted on its website. Boric said the death toll could rise as rescue workers search collapsed houses. Some of those taken to hospitals were also in critical condition.

Rodrigo Mundaca, the governor of the Valparaiso region, where Viña del Mar and other affected towns are located, said Sunday that he believes some of the fires may have been caused intentionally, repeating a theory that Boric also mentioned on Saturday had.

“These fires started at four points that lit up at the same time,” Mundaca said. “As authorities, we must work hard to find those responsible.”

The fires around Viña del Mar started in mountain forest areas that were difficult to access. But despite efforts by Chilean authorities to contain the flames, they have moved to densely populated neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city.

On Saturday, Boric said unusually high temperatures, low humidity and high wind speeds were making it difficult to control wildfires in central Chile, which have already burned 8,000 hectares (30 square miles) of forest and urban areas.

Boric flew over some of the areas burned by the fires on Sunday and visited a school that has been converted into a shelter for displaced people. He said a presidential holiday home on the Viña del Mar waterfront, surrounded by large gardens, would be temporarily converted into a leisure center for the children of families affected by the fires.

The president declared two days of national mourning.

“The whole of Chile is suffering,” Boric said. “But we will get up again.”

Officials urged people in areas affected by the fires to evacuate their homes as quickly as possible, while those further from the fires were ordered to stay home to facilitate the passage of fire engines and ambulances .

To prevent looting, curfews were imposed in Viña del Mar and the neighboring towns of Quilpé and Villa Alemana.

The fires broke out during a week of record temperatures in central Chile. Over the past two months, the El Niño weather pattern in western South America has resulted in droughts and high temperatures that have also increased the risk of wildfires.

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Rueda reported from Bogotá, Colombia