5 out of 11 huge fires have been contained after rainfall improves firefighting circumstances.
Wildfires sweeping via South Korea since final Friday have killed no less than 28 folks, injured dozens extra and charred about 48,000 hectares (118,000 acres) of forest, in keeping with native information company Yonhap.
However higher visibility and cooler temperatures following in a single day rainfall on Thursday have led to improved firefighting circumstances in opposition to the blazes that have been pushed by robust winds from central Uiseong county to coastal areas.
Al Jazeera’s Jack Barton, reporting from Uiseong, mentioned, “It’s too early to name it a turning level, however of the 11 huge fires that have been raging, 5 have been fully contained in a single day.
“And whereas some are nonetheless burning intensely, we’re seeing good ends in locations like Uiseong. Fires are down to five % of what they have been,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, about 38,000 residents have thus far needed to flee affected areas, the federal government’s catastrophe response company has mentioned.
“We plan to mobilise all out there sources to extinguish the principle flames by the top of the day,” mentioned Lim Sang-seop, chief of the Korea Forest Service informed Yonhap.
The fires have been fuelled by dry winds and a protracted drought, in keeping with officers. Wildfires will not be unusual in South Korea throughout dry spells.
Lately, each common temperatures and excessive climate occasions have elevated within the nation, considerably elevating the chance and severity of fires.
Specialists view the rise in wildfires as an indication of the continued results of local weather change.
Al Jazeera’s Barton reported that “many homes and farms throughout this space (round Uiseong) have been destroyed. Many individuals, tens of hundreds, have been evacuated and stay displaced.
“South Korea’s appearing president Han Duck-soo mentioned that ‘all efforts might be taken’ to assist folks entry monetary sources to get their properties rebuilt. He mentioned that cash needs to be limitless,” Barton mentioned.
“Native governments are saying they are going to try to transfer them out of the tent evacuation camps as shortly as doable in momentary course of. However will probably be a protracted course of,” he added.
An 81-year-old apple farmer walks with sticks over particles previous her neighbours’ properties, burned by a wildfire two days in the past, in Andong on March 27, 2025 (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP)
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