Torrential rain pounds South Korea for third day as thousands take shelter

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Firefighters take part in a rescue operation at a flooded area caused by torrential rain in Daegu, South Korea, on July 17.

PHOTO: REUTERS

SEOUL - More than 5,000 people in South Korea have been forced into shelters as heavy rain pounded parts of the country for a third day, with the deluge killing at least four people and destroying property and infrastructure, the safety ministry said on July 18.

Torrential rain warnings remain in effect

Some parts in the south including the city of Gwangju were hit by record precipitation of more than 400mm in the past 24 hours as of early on July 18, the safety ministry said.

Four people have died and one remained missing, it said. Two were trapped in cars on flooded roads and another died in a basement under flood water in the central South Chungcheong province, it said.

A driver was also killed after a 10m roadside wall collapsed on top of a moving vehicle on July 16 in Osan, some 44km south of Seoul, fire agency officials said.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who has been vocal about stepping up the governments role in disaster prevention and response, said while natural disasters were hard to prevent, more can be done to anticipate damage and warn the public.

“I see there were cases where casualties occurred because