Wildfires in South Korea are now "the largest on record", having burned more forest than any previous blazes, the country's disaster chief said, as the death toll rose to 26.
"The wildfire is spreading rapidly," said on Thursday Lee Han-kyung, disaster and safety division chief. "The forest damage has reached 35,810 hectares, already exceeding the area affected by the 2000 East Coast wildfire, previously the largest on record, by more than 10,000 hectares."
The fatalities include a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a fire and four firefighters and other workers who died after being trapped by fast-moving flames driven by strong winds.
Authorities haven't disclosed details of the civilian dead, except that they are mostly in their 60s and 70s. They suspect human error caused several of the wildfires that began last Friday, including cases where people started fires while clearing overgrown grass from family tombs or with sparks during welding work.
As of Thursday morning, the centre said authorities were mobilising more than 9,000 people and about 120 helicopters to battle the wildfires.
"Damages are snowballing," acting President Han Duck-soo said in a televised address on Wednesday. "There are concerns that we'll have wildfire damages that we've never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities on putting out the wildfires this week."
The hardest-hit areas are Andong City, the neighbouring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong and the city of Ulsan.
Damages everywhere
On Wednesday night, strong winds and smoke-filled skies forced authorities in the southeastern city of Andong to order evacuations in two villages, including Puncheon, home to the Hahoe folk village — a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded around the 14th-15th century. Hikers were advised to leave the scenic Jiri Mountain as another fire spread closer.
Officials said earlier this week that firefighters had extinguished most of the flames from the largest wildfires in key areas, but wind and dry conditions allowed them to spread again.
Destroyed in the blazes were houses, factories, vehicles and some historic structures. In Uiseong, about 20 of the 30 structures at the Gounsa temple complex, which was said to be originally built in the 7th century, have been burned. Among them were two state-designated "treasures" — a pavilion-shaped building erected overlooking a stream in 1668, and a Joseon dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.
The Korea Forest Service has raised its wildfire warning to the highest level, requiring local governments to assign more workers to emergency response, tighten entry restrictions for forests and parks, and recommend that military units withhold live-fire exercises.
