ANDONG: Truck driver Lee Seung-joo was driving through South Korea’s Andong mountains when the wildfires hit, engulfing the area in flames and turning it into “a literal hell”.
“It was like the apocalypse,” the 39-year-old said, as he recalled seeing the fire tear through the area, which, even before the inferno struck, had been suffering from a particularly dry spell.
“The mountain burning looked like literal hell,” he added.
Tens of thousands of people in the southeast had to evacuate from the wildfires, which have been burning continuously for five days, fanned by high winds and fuelled by the super-dry conditions.
Sections of National Route 7, the main east coast highway, descended into chaos as the fires caught up with evacuees stuck in traffic jams, struggling to escape.
“Fireballs rained down like rain between the jammed vehicles, setting cars on fire,” one eyewitness told local media.
“Drivers barely escaped from the burning cars – it was utter chaos.”
Apple farmer Cho Jae-oak, 75, who fled from his property, told AFP that he also saw fireballs flying down from the mountain.
He and his wife had sprayed water to try and save their farm but were eventually forced to escape.
