Ecuador's government declared a 60-day national emergency due to raging forest fires made worse by a severe drought, risk management officials said on Monday. The South American country faces 13 active wildfires and another nine that have been controlled,

Ecuador's government declared a 60-day national emergency due to forest fires, with a severe drought worsening the situation, risk management officials said on Monday. The state of emergency will allow the freeing of funds to tackle the multi-faceted crisis.

Ecuador on Monday declared a national emergency due to water shortages, drought and forest fires that have razed more than 10,000 hectares in the south of the country so far this month.