Forest fires have killed at least 26 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings in South Korea's southeastern province of North Gyeongsang. The country's disaster chief said the fires had exposed the "harsh reality" of global warming.
South Korean authorities are battling forest fires that have doubled in size in a day in the country's worst natural fire disaster to date.
“This wildfire has once again exposed the harsh reality of a climate crisis like we have never experienced before,” said Lee Han-kyung, chief of the disaster and security division, pointing to extreme drought conditions and strong winds that made the damage worse.
Affected areas have seen only half the average rainfall this season, while the country has experienced more than twice as many fires this year as last year.
More than 36.000 hectares of land have been charred or are still burning in the largest wildfire, which started in central Uiseong County and is the worst forest fire in South Korea's history. Some 37.000 people have been displaced, Yonhap news agency said.
“We are in a critical situation nationwide with a large number of casualties due to the unprecedented rapid spread of forest fires,” interim President Han Duck-soo told a government briefing on the fires, adding that the large number of elderly victims, including those in hospitals, was particularly worrying.
The military released stocks of aviation fuel to help firefighting helicopters keep flying in mountainous areas of the state, where fires have been burning for about a week. Authorities said more than 300 structures had been destroyed.
As of Thursday morning, authorities had mobilized more than 9.000 people and about 120 helicopters to fight the fires.
