A national disaster regime has been declared in South Korea due to forest fires, rescuers have died

The South Korean government declared a state of national disaster on Saturday due to massive forest fires that engulfed the city of Ulsan and southeastern regions, UNN reports with reference to Yonhap.

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The announcement followed a recommendation by Acting President Choe Sang-mok to issue the declaration in order to implement comprehensive measures to combat the natural disaster and assist in recovery.

Choe also ordered government officials to consider declaring the affected areas as special disaster zones.

Shortly before the announcement, the Central Headquarters for Counteracting Natural Disasters and Security Measures, chaired by Acting Minister of the Interior Ko Ki-dong, began operations.

The decision was made after numerous forest fires were recorded in the city of Ulsan and other southeastern districts, including the Sanchon district.

Eight villages in Sanchon were evacuated as strong winds hampered firefighting the day after the fire first broke out on Friday afternoon.

More than 260 villagers lost their homes and took refuge in temporary shelters.

In the region, 35 percent of the fire was extinguished as of 5 p.m., compared to 70 percent at 10:30 a.m. due to strong winds.

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The district office reported that two firefighters were found dead, two others were missing, and six were injured.

Acting President Choe visited the site earlier in the day and ordered relevant agencies to make every effort to mobilize all possible equipment and personnel to extinguish the fire before sunset.

He also called for the safety of residents, as well as firefighters sent to the scene, stressing the need for continuous training if the fire continues at night.

Earlier that day, a forest fire broke out in Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province, covering 300 hectares of forest, authorities said.

As of 5 p.m., firefighters extinguished 4 percent of the fire, and about 500 villagers were evacuated.

Train traffic through the affected region was temporarily suspended.

Another fire in Uldzhu County in western Ulsan forced the evacuation of about 80 residents.

Meanwhile, the Korea Forest Service raised the level of emergency due to forest fires to the highest as of 3:30 p.m., with 16 forest fires registered across the country amid strong winds.