South Korea’s raging wildfires kill at least 18, destroy 1,300-year-old temple

At least 18 people lost their lives in South Korea’s wind-driven wildfires that were ravaging in country’s southern region, with the nation’s acting president Han Duck-soo saying on Wednesday that the deadly wildfires have caused “unprecedented damage” and exceeded all prediction models. An ancient temple was also destroyed. 

“Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day in Ulsan and the Gyeongsang region are causing unprecedented damage,” Han said,. further mentioning that the fires were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations”. 

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Han also launched a “full-scale national response” to the fires. The authorities said on Wednesday that thousands of firefighters were trying to bring multiple blazes under control. 

“18 people died in the wildfires. Additionally, six people were seriously injured and 13 suffered minor injuries,” a Ministry of Safety official told the news agency AFP. 

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The government’s emergency response centre said that the wildfires have burned 43,330 acres, with Han saying that about 4,650 firefighters, soldiers and other personnel were working to extinguish the wildfires, but they struggled as strong winds swept the areas overnight. At least 130 helicopters are assisting the firefighters. He said that a “small amount” of 5-10 millimetres of rain was expected on Thursday. 

In a televised address, Han said that the damages because of the wildfires that began last Friday were snowballing. “There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week,” Han said.