Forest fires resumed in South Korea, death toll rises to 30

Forest fires resumed in southeastern South Korea overnight, fire authorities said on Saturday, adding that fire helicopters were dispatched to extinguish them, with the death toll from the fires reaching 30, UNN reports citing Yonhap.

Details

An official at the Gyeongbuk Fire Department headquarters said that reports of smoke in Andong, about 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul in North Gyeongsang Province, began to arrive around 10 p.m. local time on Friday evening. Forestry officials believe the fire resumed around 3 a.m. local time on Saturday.

Korea Expressway Corp. closed a section of the nearby highway at 5 a.m. local time and reopened it shortly before 9 a.m. Since vehicles could not reach the mountainous areas, 11 helicopters were called in to localize the fire.

Officials said that fires also resumed in other parts of the province, including Uiseong, south of Andong.

Regional authorities called in nine fire helicopters, as well as 230 firefighters and civil servants and 50 soldiers, to localize the fires.

Separately, a fire that started near a power line tower around 9 p.m. On Friday in Cheongsong County, east of Andong, the fire spread to a neighboring mountain. Cheongsong officials warned residents of possible power outages.

Another nine helicopters were in operation over Cheongsong and Yeongyang to extinguish the embers. North Gyeongsang officials said that plumes of smoke were rising in some parts of the province, but said that the fires were not resuming. The province plans to send 30 helicopters on Saturday.

The Korean Forest Service had previously announced that forest fires in North Gyeongsang had been completely brought under control as of 5 p.m. on Friday, killing or injuring dozens of people and forcing thousands of others to flee.

About 48,000 hectares of forest, equivalent to about 80 percent of the area of Seoul, were burned in the worst forest fire in South Korean history, according to the forest agency.

Of these, almost 13,000 hectares were in Uiseong, and almost 10,000 in Andong.

According to official estimates, the fire also damaged 2,996 homes and more than 1,000 agricultural facilities.

According to the Central Headquarters for Disaster Management and Safety Measures, the death toll from the fires reached 30 on Saturday, two more than the previous day, as well as 43 injured. The statement said that 6,885 people from 4,193 households have not yet returned home after the evacuation,

The statement also said that about 55.4 billion won ($37.7 million) was collected in donations through aid organizations.

Acting President of the country Han Dok Su said that the government will provide "full administrative and financial support" to displaced persons until they return to normal life.