South Korea
South Korea’s forestry service reported thousands of firefighters battling at least five active wildfires around the country.
At least 24 fatalities and over 20 injuries were reported as multiple regions in South Korea’s southeast are engulfed by wildfires, where thousands of soldiers and firefighters are fighting to contain fast-growing fires.
Over a dozen fires erupted at the weekend, with some 27,000 individuals having to evacuate in a rush. The Korea Forest Service reported that firefighters were battling at least five active fires across the country as of Wednesday morning.
The number of deaths rose to 24 on Wednesday as fire spread by wind destroyed neighbourhoods and burned down an ancient temple, officials reported.
One of the dead included a helicopter firefighting pilot who was killed when his plane crashed in a mountainous region of Uiseong.
South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency reported that four victims who were discovered dead on a road late Tuesday evening burned to death after attempting to flee the blaze but their overturned car caught fire.
The blazes started on Friday evening in Sancheong county in the Northern Gyeongsang province and then extended to nearby Uiseong county – roughly 180km (111 miles) southeast of Seoul – and have moved into Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok counties.
Authorities in Andong and other cities and towns in the southeast have directed residents to leave the area as firemen are working hard to fight the blazes, which have engulfed over 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) of land and hundreds of buildings, including the over 1,000-year-old Gounsa temple in Uiseong.
National treasures at the Buddhist temple, which dates back to 681, were relocated to other parts of the nation, Yonhap reported.
Authorities also issued an emergency alert for Hahoe Folk Village – a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site popular with tourists in Andong county – as the blaze drew closer.
“The wildfire is currently about 8km (4.9 miles) from Hahoe Village,” an official at the Korea Heritage Service said, adding that fire trucks and dozens of firefighters are on standby and spraying water around the premise to prevent the fire from spreading.
Lee Byung-doo, a national forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Science, described the Uiseong fire as having “unimaginable” scale and velocity.
South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo stated that the burning fires had surpassed all model predictions for the disaster.
“Wildfires raging for a fifth straight day in Ulsan and the Gyeongsang area are inflicting unprecedented levels of damage,” Han said. The fires are “evolving in a manner that is surpassing both available prediction models and previous estimates”, he added.
The South Korean military has mobilized an estimated 5,000 troops and dispatched 146 helicopters to assist in battling the fires with thousands of firefighters, Yonhap reported.
Around 500 prisoners in a jail have also been relocated to other jails outside the fire risk area.
South Korea:Thousands Evacuated from Homes
South Korea:Dry and windy conditions have slowed efforts to put out the fires, with the government resorting to the unusual measure of evacuating thousands of prisoners from detention facilities in fire-hit counties. The government says the fatal wildfires have driven over 27,000 residents out of their homes.
Multiple clips were posted on social media of firefighters attempting to put out the deadly fires as dry conditions and high winds complicate their efforts.
“Widespread wildfires raging for a fifth-consecutive day in Ulsan and the Gyeongsang region are inflicting unprecedented loss,” South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-soo said, and the government has declared a “full-scale national response.”.
He explained that the government is mobilizing all personnel and equipment at hand in response to the “worst wildfires ever, but things are not good. According to the President, the US military in Korea was also helping fight fires.
The President informed an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the fires were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”
Emergency evacuations were initiated by authorities on Tuesday afternoon, “but unfortunately, casualties could not be avoided,” he stated.
“During the night, there was pandemonium as power and communication cables were severed in many places and roads were obstructed,” he continued.
Thousands of firefighters have been dispatched, but “gusty winds with speeds of 25 metres per second continued from yesterday afternoon until the night, compelling the suspension of helicopter and drone operations,” Han said.
“Unstable wind patterns and repeated dry weather alerts have unveiled the inadequacies of traditional fire fighting tactics,” he continued.
