Death toll rises in Korean wildfires as firefighters struggle to contain blaze
Multiple wildfires have raged across South Korea’s south-eastern region, with thousands of firefighters aided by the military deployed in a bid to contain one of the country’s worst forest fires in decades.
The blazes have killed at least 24 people, including a helicopter pilot who died after his aircraft crashed while fighting one fire.
They spread rapidly and forced more than 28,800 residents to flee their homes, the government said.
The fires, fuelled by strong winds and dry weather, have razed entire neighbourhoods, closed schools and forced authorities to transfer hundreds of inmates from prisons.
Some 300 structures have been destroyed by the wildfires.
“We are deploying all available personnel and equipment in response to the worst wildfires ever but the situation is not good,” Acting President Han Duck-soo said, adding that the US military in Korea was also assisting.
Fourteen people died in a wildfire starting from Uiseong county, while four other deaths were linked to another fire from Sancheong county, according to the Safety Ministry.
Thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate. (Reuters: Yonhap)
Many of those who died were aged in their 60s and 70s, said Son Chang-ho, a local police official.
The Uiseong fire, only 68 per cent contained and exacerbated by gusty winds, shows “unimaginable” scale and speed, said Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Science.
Dry conditions were expected to persist in the wildfire-hit region on Wednesday, the Safety Ministry said.
Climate change is projected to make wildfires more frequent globally, Mr Lee said, citing the unusual timing of wildfires that ravaged part of Los Angeles in January and a recent wildfire in north-east Japan.
“We have to admit large-scale wildfires are going to increase and for that we need more resources and trained manpower,” he told the Reuters news agency.
South Korea relies on helicopters to help extinguish wildfires due to its mountainous terrain, but Mr Lee says there is a need to bring in other firefighting aircraft and drones that can operate at night.
Smoke rises from a wildfire devastating the area around Andong. (Reuters: Yonhap)
Eight Russian helicopters out of the Korea Forest Service’s fleet of 48 used in firefighting had been taken out of operation since last year due to an inability to import parts from Russia because of sanctions related to the Ukraine war, Yoon Joon-byeong, a Democratic Party member of parliament said in October, using data from the forest service.
Kim Jong-gun, a spokesperson for the Korea Forest Service, said the agency planned to secure more wildfire-fighting helicopters, responding to criticism about a lack of equipment and helicopters on the ground.
He said that 4,919 firefighting personnel were being deployed on Wednesday, including hundreds of police officers and military units, while 87 helicopters were being used.
The blazes that broke out on Saturday in Uiseong are yet to be contained, gutting ancient temples and destroying homes.
Unramsa temple was damaged after a wildfire devastated the area in Uiseong. (Reuters: Minwoo Park)
The Uiseong fires were also threatening several UNESCO World Heritage sites — Hahoe Village and the Byeongsan Confucian Academy — in Andong city, a city official said, as authorities sprayed fire retardants to try to protect them.
The flames had already burnt down Goun Temple, an ancient temple built in 681 AD, Yonhap reported.
The government has designated the affected areas as special disaster zones and said the fires had damaged more than 37,065 acres.
Reuters
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