Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area in the middle of one of the worst forest fires in the history of the country. Government officials suspect that many of the fires have been caused by human errors.
At least 18 people died and another 27,000 were evacuated due to the forest fires caused by the wind, which continues to devastate the south -east of South Korea. Among the deceased there are four firefighters and government operatorswho died in the County of Sancheong on Saturday after being trapped by the rapid advancement of the flames.
The interim president is Duck-Soo said that these are “unprecedented” fires and have declared that the damage caused by the flames could be among the worst in the history of the country. “We must concentrate all our resources to deactivate forest fires on the rest of the week“Han Duck-Soo said, adding that the teams lined up were fighting Extract the flames Due to the strong winds that whipped the areas affected during the night.
About 4,650 firefighters, soldiers and other staff They worked on Wednesday in the extinction of fires with the help of about 130 helicopters. The largest spotlights occurred in Andong, the close counties of Uiseong and Sancheong and the city of Ulsan, according to the Ministry of Interior of South Korea.
According to the center of response to government emergencies, About 17,500 hectares of land were burned and 19 people were injured. A fire In the city of Uiseong destroyed the temple of Gounsa, built in the seventh century after Christ.
Among the destroyed structures were two “treasures” designated by the state: A pavilion -shaped structure built on a flow in 1668 and a 1904 Joseon dynasty structure. The other “treasure” of the Temple, a statue of Buddha of stone that was produced in the eighth century after Christ, was evacuated in a safe place, according to government officials and Buddhist monks.
The authorities also reported that a helicopter He crashed into the city during the work of containing forest fires in the most affected area. The South Korean Forestry Service declared that rescue works were carried out and that it was assumed that the plane was managed by an unmanned pilot.
State Agency officials They raised their forest fire alert on Tuesday at the highest levels, qualified as “serious”, throughout the country. The designation requires local governments to assign more workers to work to respond to the emergencyIt will harden the restrictions of entry to forests and parks and recommend military units to suspend the exercises with a real fire.
Government officials Suspect that many of the fires have been caused by human errorsProbably due to the use of fire while cleaning the grass cultivated in family tombs or spark of welding work.
