SEOUL: At least 18 people have died as multiple wildfires rage across South Korea’s southeastern 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 deadly wildfires have spread rapidly and forced more than 27,000 residents to flee their homes, the government said. The blazes, fuelled by strong winds and dry weather, have razed entire neighbourhoods, closed schools and forced authorities to transfer hundreds of inmates from prisons.
“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 United States military in Korea was also assisting.
As of 5am local time (4am, Singapore time) on Wednesday, 14 people had 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.
Many of those who had perished 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 strong winds, shows “unimaginable” scale and speed, said Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Science.
