The fires ravaging southeastern South Korea continue to “spread rapidly” and are now officially “the most destructive on record” in the country, authorities said Thursday, releasing a new, even heavier death toll, which has now reached 26 dead.
More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, cutting off roads, power and telecommunications networks, while about 27,000 residents were forced to flee their homes.
“The fire is spreading rapidly,” said Lee Han-kyung, head of the disaster management agency, giving a new toll: “26 people are dead, 8 seriously injured and 22 slightly injured.”
The forest fires, which are being fought by thousands of firefighters with the support of army units, have burned “358,100 hectares,” in other words an area larger than “the fires of 2000, which were the most destructive” in history, he explained.
Authorities emphasize that the development of winds and dry weather have revealed the limits of conventional firefighting methods.
“The fire is spreading rapidly,” said Lee Han-kyung, head of the disaster management agency, giving a new toll: “26 people are dead, 8 seriously injured and 22 slightly injured.”
The forest fires, which are being fought by thousands of firefighters with the support of army units, have burned “358,100 hectares” of land, in other words an area larger than “the fires of 2000, which were the most destructive” in history, he explained.
Authorities emphasize that the development of winds and dry weather have revealed the limits of conventional firefighting methods.
In addition to thousands of firefighters and the armed forces, the US military is contributing to the response efforts with helicopters taking off from its bases in the southern part of the country.
Helicopter crash
Most of the victims were local residents, but the dead also included at least three firefighters and the pilot of a helicopter that crashed in a mountainous area yesterday while helping to control the flames, according to authorities.
Two UNESCO World Heritage sites, tourist magnets, the villages of Haefe and Byeongsan Sowan, remain under threat. Note that in the affected areas, the season’s rainfall was half the annual average.
2024 was by far the warmest year ever recorded in South Korea, with the average annual temperature reaching 14.5° Celsius — two degrees above the average of the previous thirty years — according to the South Korean Meteorological Agency.
More than doubled
Authorities say the area affected by the fires has experienced exceptionally dry weather and below-average rainfall. The number of fires in South Korea has already more than doubled this year compared to the same period in 2024.
The link between some types of extreme weather conditions and climate change is undeniable (heat waves, heavy rainfall, etc.). However, phenomena such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms, tropical storms are attributed to combinations of complex factors.
