South Korea wildfires 4 dead hundreds displaced as govt declares emergency

SEOUL - South Korea has declared a state of disaster after multiple forest fires hit the country’s south, killing at least four and displacing more than 1,500 residents from their homes.

Firefighters on March 23 were scrambling amid dry windy weather to put out the fires that started in the southern county of Sancheong on March 21, as well as others in at least three different regions in southern South Korea.

Four people - three firefighters and one public servant - were killed and six others injured, according to Yonhap news agency.

Over 9,000 staff members and 105 helicopters were deployed to quell the fires that have damaged residential buildings and a temple, the authorities said.

More than 1,500 residents took shelter as the fires wiped out some 6,300ha of forests, Acting President Choi Sang-mok told a disaster response meeting.

South Korea declared a state of disaster in the southern regions to facilitate the mobilisation of resources to contain the fires, and designated Sancheong as a special disaster zone, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said.

The fires are ravaging the country at a time when South Korea is undergoing some of its greatest political turbulence in decades, triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration in December.

Finance Minister Choi is currently leading the country as the acting president. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS

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