South Korea: 33 killed in floods and landslides

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain in South Korea left at least 33 people dead and ten missing, officials said Sunday, as rescuers desperately searched for people trapped in a flooded tunnel.

Heavy rains in the middle of the summer monsoon in South Korea for the past 4 days have caused widespread flooding and landslides, and a large dam is overflowing.

The interior ministry said 33 people were killed and ten missing as a result of the heavy rains, most of them buried by landslides or falling into a flooded reservoir. Rescuers are working to free about 15 cars stuck in a 430-meter-long tunnel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong province, the ministry said. According to Yonhap news agency, the tunnel was submerged on Saturday morning after a flash flood.

By Sunday, seven bodies had been recovered from the tunnel, and divers were taking turns searching day and night to search for other victims, the interior ministry said.

“I don’t have hope anymore, but I can’t leave,” a relative of one who disappeared in the subway told Yonhap. “It breaks my heart to think of the pain my son went through in the cold water,” she added.

Footage broadcast by local television showed water overflowing from a nearby river, rushing into a tunnel, and rescue workers using boats to reach victims.

“Extreme” risk

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is currently on an overseas trip, held an emergency meeting with his aides to discuss the government’s response to severe weather and flooding, his office said. Earlier, he ordered Prime Minister Han Duk-soo to mobilize all available resources to keep casualties to a minimum.

Most of the victims, including 17 dead and nine missing, were from northern Gyeongsang province, a mountainous region hit particularly hard by landslides that engulfed homes and trapped their residents. Some of the missing were swept away by a swollen river in northern Gyeongsang province, the ministry said.

More rain is expected till Wednesday

More rain is expected until Wednesday, and the Korea Meteorological Administration has warned that weather conditions pose a “severe” danger. South Korea is regularly affected by floods during the summer monsoon season but the country is generally well prepared and the number of victims is relatively low.

Last year, the country experienced heavy rains and floods that killed 11 people. The government said the 2022 rainfall was the heaviest since weather records began for Seoul 115 years ago, which it blamed on the extremes of climate change.

(AFP)