South Korea wildfires ‘largest on record’: disaster chief

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The country’s destruction chief said Thursday that the forest fire in South Korea is now the “largest record” after burning more than any former balls.

More than a dozen fire broke out at the end of the week, forcing a massive southeast of southeast, forcing about 27,000 people to immediately evacuate, when residents fled in panic and eliminated communication lines.

“The forest fire is spreading rapidly,” said Lee Han Qing, head of the Disaster and Safety Division.

“26 people have been killed, eight were seriously injured and 22 were injured,” he said.

“The loss of the jungle has reached 35,810 hectares, which is already higher than the fire -affected area of ​​the 2000 coastal forest, the largest in record, more than 10,000 hectares.”

After the Infourno, which was burned in 23,913 hectares across the East coast, in April 2000, the loss limit becomes the largest forest fire in South Korea.

Authorities said changing air samples and dry weather revealed the limits of traditional firefighting methods.

Most of the dead were locals, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot was killed in a firefighting helicopter when his plane crashed in the mountainous area, officials said.

Last year, South Korea was the hottest year on record, the Korean meteorological administration said the average annual temperature was 14.5 degrees Celsius-which is two degrees higher than the previous 30-year average.

Authorities said the fire -hit region was experiencing extraordinary dry weather with an average of low rainfall, officials said, adding that the South faced twice this year than the number of fires this year compared to the previous year.

Some types of extreme weather have a well -established links with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.

Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms, can result in combination of complex factors.

‘Clumpy Crisis’

Disaster Chief Lee said, “The fire of this jungle has once again exposed the harsh reality of the climate crisis, which we have experienced earlier.”

He said, “The average rainfall has been seen in the affected areas, which has caught fire with unusually strong winds, which has accelerated the spread of fire and accelerated the damage.”

Claimatology professor at Hanning University in Seoul, Sang Wok, told AFP that the lack of rainfall had dried up the land with “creating a favorable condition for forest fire.”

“This can be seen as one of the main reasons,” he said.

“We cannot say that this is just because of climate change, but the climate change is directly affecting (and) indirectly affecting the changes we are now facing. This is a gross fact.”

The effects of South Korea’s settlement crisis were also on full exhibition-the country is a so-called super-age society, with the world’s lowest birth.

Acting President Han Dick Soo said, “It is worried that many victims of nursing hospitals are senior citizens.”

Rain is being predicted at the end of Thursday, with authorities being given the most important window to extinguish the cats.

Several historical sites, including two registered with UNESCO, were threatened with fire, with South Korean heritage officials working with firefighters.

AFP reporters found that a former Confucian Academy Bangsan Souan, a former Confucian Academy on the list of UNESCO, was filled with sky, AFP reporters saw that fire trucks were spraying at a disappointing historical site to save water and fire returns.

“We are spraying three tonnes of water daily as a fire rescue in the premises, including buildings,” said Lee Sing Meng, head of the Andong Fire Department’s Fire Safety Team.

Lee added, “If the fire burns here, it is likely that it will be mobilized because of the flames spreading from the cedar trees, so now we are now cutting them near the site to avoid such a scenario.”