At least 19 people have been killed in one of South Korea’s worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple fires causing “unprecedented damage,” according to the acting president on Wednesday.
Over the weekend, more than a dozen fires ignited, spreading across large areas of the southeast and forcing around 27,000 people to evacuate. The fires disrupted transportation, cutting off roads and downing communication lines, as residents fled in panic.
By Wednesday morning, the death toll had risen to 19, with 18 people confirmed dead from the wildfires and a firefighter pilot who tragically died when his helicopter crashed in a mountainous area.
The wildfires have burned through 17,398 hectares (42,991 acres), with the blaze in Uiseong county alone accounting for 87 percent of the total damage, the interior ministry reported.
In response, the government raised the crisis alert to its highest level and took the extraordinary step of transferring thousands of inmates out of prisons in the affected area.
“These wildfires, burning for a fifth consecutive day, are causing unprecedented damage,” said South Korea’s acting president, Han Duck-soo, during an emergency safety and disaster meeting.
He added that the fires were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”
