Several wildfires are still raging in the southeast of South Korea, killing at least 24 people. Authorities indicate that the majority of the deaths are in their 60s and 70s. They also say that over 23,000 people have been forced to evacuate their houses due to the terrible wildfires, and that over 26 people are injured, 12 of them are in critical condition.
Acting President Han Duck-soo described the ” unprecedented ” disaster as ” rewriting the record books for the worst wildfires in our nation’s history.” The case is still pending. The fires destroyed the 1,300-year-old Gounsa temple in Uiseong city; numerous cultural artefacts were taken out and moved to a safer location.
According to authorities, the flames began in Sancheong county on Friday afternoon and subsequently moved to Uiseong county. According to the Yonhap news agency, the fires are spreading to the nearby counties of Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, and Yeongdeok due to the influence of strong, dry winds.
Lee Byung-doo, a forest catastrophe specialist at the National Institute of Forest Science, told Reuters that the Uiseong fire is expanding at a “unimaginable” magnitude and rate. Authorities are looking into what caused a firefighting helicopter to crash in the Uiseong County mountains shortly after noon on Wednesday.
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