Wildfires in South Korea have claimed 24 lives, destroying more than 300 structures and forcing 28,800 residents to evacuate, officials said on Wednesday. Among the dead, there’s a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a blaze in the southeastern town of Uiseong. According to the police, most of the dead are those in their 60s and 70s. The National Fire Agency said at least 26 people sustained varying degrees of injuries.
The wildfires, which have burned 17,752 hectares (43,866 acres) of land, have destroyed an ancient Buddhist temple, houses, factories and vehicles. In a televised address, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo, acknowledged the wildfires that began last Friday were worse than many previous ones.
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“Damages are snowballing,” Han said. “There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week,” he added.
Han said crews struggled to extinguish the wildfires because strong winds swept the areas overnight.
He also said about 4,650 firefighters, soldiers, and other personnel were working Wednesday with the help of about 130 helicopters, adding that “a small amount” of 5-10 millimetres (0.1-0.3 inches) of rain was expected Thursday.
Observers say the ongoing wildfires are the third biggest in South Korea’s history in terms of land burned. The largest fires were in Andong, the neighbouring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan.
Among the dead were four firefighters and government workers who died in Sancheong on Saturday after being trapped by fast-moving flames driven by strong winds, according to officials. Government officials suspect human error caused several of the fires, possibly due to the use of fire while clearing overgrown grass in family tombs or sparks from welding work.
(With inputs from AP)
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