Seoul: Fatalities from multiple wildfires raging in southeastern South Korea over the past week have increased to 26, the government said Thursday. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters reported that the wildfires in the North and South Gyeongsang provinces have resulted in 56 casualties, which include 26 deaths, eight serious injuries, and 22 light injuries as of 6 a.m. Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, 22 of the deaths were reported from North Gyeongsang Province. The wildfires have also displaced a significant number of residents, with 37,185 individuals having been forced to leave their homes as of 5 a.m. on the same day. Of these, 29,911 were from the Uiseong and Andong areas, located about 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul. While 20,485 residents have since returned home after evacuation, 16,700 individuals remain in shelters.
As of 5 a.m., there were a total of 10 medium-sized and large forest fire areas across the two provinces, and 36,009 hectares of woodland have been burned. This area of destruction is nearly 13,000 hectares more than the 23,794 hectares damaged by the east coast wildfires in 2000, which were previously considered the worst in the nation's history.
The agency further noted that the fire extinguishing efforts are progressing with varying success across different areas. The extinguishing rate stood at 52 percent in Andong, 54 percent in Uiseong, and 77 percent in Sancheong, Hadong, and Cheongsong, respectively.