This harrowing footage shows how a family hides crying in a swimming pool as a deadly wildfire sweeps past them in Chile.

The woman, her two young children, and her parents were forced to jump into a neighbour’s pool to save their lives as the wildfire raged through Purgatorio, Santa Juana, on 3rd February.

Relieved mum Marisela Saez later told local media: “In my desperation, as a mother, I got there and pushed my daughter under the water so she would get wet.

“My little boy no longer wanted any more water, the smoke took my breath away. It was terrifying, I am grateful to the neighbour. It’s such a joy we’re all alive.”

The family managed to save themselves from the blaze, which devastated nearly all the houses and other buildings, including churches, in the area.

Marisela recalled: “In a matter of seconds, a WhatsApp message arrived saying that the fire was moving up from San Jorge, so I go and tell my parents, ‘Mummy, the fire’s coming.’

“My dad said we should go north, so I went outside, but we bumped into the neighbour whose pool it was.

“I told him we were fleeing, but I didn’t know where to. I started crying. He said the only option was the pool and he went to look for my parents.”

The terrifying footage was then filmed, with the young kids heard crying and the neighbour telling everyone to stay neck deep in the water.

Marisela said: “The neighbour told us we had to stay in up to our necks. I kneeled and hugged my daughter, my mother hugged my little boy.

“My father and the neighbours got in and then I felt the fire, I felt the heat and I thought we were all going to die.”

A second piece of footage shows the devastation wrought by the blaze after it had raged through the area.

Luckily, everyone involved in the ordeal – even a pet dog – emerged unscathed.

However, wildfires have killed 24 people in other parts of the country.