John Adoyi, PBA Journalism MenteeAs torrential rains, landslides and heavy storm batter South Korea, authorities have confirmed that 37 persons have died while more than 10 persons are missing.
Speaking with Yonhap, South Korea’s News agency, the country’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said that thousands of citizens have fled their homes and many more evacuated due to the damages left by the disaster.
According to the news agency, the death toll includes nine bodies authorities recovered from a bus trapped in a flooded underground tunnel in the central town of Osong.
The central disaster agency also predicted that casualties from the underground tunnel will rise as the rescue mission is still ongoing for 15 vehicles and persons that are still trapped.
South Korea’s Agricultural Ministry reported that nearly 20 thousand hectares of farmland has been destroyed so far. While over 561 thousand animals including chickens, ducks, and goats have been killed.
Yonhap also reported that 80 public roads have been destroyed or swept away, 59 cases of collapsed river embankments and 82 homes flooded. It added that 220 roads and all train services have been shot down temporarily.
South Korea’s President, Yoon Suk-yeol who is currently in Europe, commiserated with the victims of the disaster and asked the country’s Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, to use all available resources to manage the disaster. “Support for damage caused by the disaster should be swiftly provided,” President Yoon said.
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He said this at a video conference he held with government officials from Europe where he attended the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit and also a visit to Ukraine.
Whenever the summer Monsoon rains begin in South Korea, dozens of lives and destructions of property dominate the media. In 2022, at least 11 people lost their homes, and thousands of buildings were flooded as the rains battered the Asian country for more than a week. The government called it the worst rain disaster in 80 years.
Weather conditions alert in South Korea has been upgraded to “grave” as the country’s Meteorological Administration issued more warnings of heavy rainfall till Wednesday.
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