Santiago orders cars off streets amid pollution

SANTIAGO, Chile — Authorities in Chile’s largest city shut down hundreds of businesses and ordered hundreds of thousands of cars off the streets Monday as a gray carpet of air pollution forced the declaration of an environmental emergency in the city hosting the Copa America soccer tournament.

The order forced the closing of more than 1,300 businesses in Santiago that emit high levels of contaminants. It also sidelined many of the capital region’s estimated 1.7 million vehicles.