- Deadly flash floods and landslides in South Korea claim 35 lives
- Tragic rescue efforts in flooded tunnel: Seven bodies recovered
- Severe weather conditions persist: Heavy rainfall and ongoing impacts
Seven bodies were extracted from a flooded tunnel where 15 vehicles were stranded in murky water, as days of heavy rainfall caused flash floods, mudslides, and the destruction of homes.
Flash floods and landslides caused by severe downpours in South Korea killed at least 35 people.
Since the 9th of July, the country has been experiencing heavy rainfall, which has increased over the past three days and is anticipated to continue in some regions until Sunday.
So far, rescue personnel have extracted seven bodies from a flooded tunnel where approximately 15 vehicles were submerged.
Nearly 400 rescue workers, including divers, were scouring the tunnel in the central city of Cheongju where vehicles, including a bus, were swept away by a flash flood on Saturday evening, according to Seo Jeong-il, the city’s fire chief.
Photos and videos from the site depicted rescue workers setting up a perimeter and pumping brown water out of the tunnel while divers navigated the area in rubber boats.
North Chungcheong provincial fire department official Yang Chan-mo estimated that it would take several hours to pump out all the water from the tunnel, which was still filled with 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16.4 feet) of water dense with mud and other detritus.
Yang stated that workers were proceeding carefully to prevent any victims or survivors from being swept away.
Seo stated that the precise number of passengers trapped in vehicles was not immediately known. Nine survivors were rescued from the tunnel, and 11 others were presumed missing based on reports from families and others.
Saturday morning, a dam in North Chungcheong province came perilously close to overflowing, prompting the evacuation of thousands.
At 9 a.m., Goesan Dam was discharging its maximum 2,700 tonnes of water.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported 22 Friday and Saturday deaths in central and southeastern districts.
According to the government, landslides in two central communities killed five people and buried homes on Saturday.
In the central city of Nonsan, a building collapse caused by landslides claimed the lives of two individuals on Friday.
According to the report, fourteen individuals have been reported missing since Tuesday, and thirteen others have been injured since Thursday.
However, the most recent ministry report did not explain the additional fatalities’ causes of death.
More than 1,500 people have been compelled to abandon their homes, and thousands more are without power.
A landslip in North Chungcheong caused a train to derail.
During Thursday’s incident, a train engineer was injured, but there were no passengers on board.
Korea Railroad Corp. cancelled all slow and bullet trains owing to safety concerns and delayed some services.
Han Duck-soo, the prime minister of South Korea, has requested that the military assists in the rescue operation by mobilizing equipment and personnel alongside government officials.
Last August, record rainfall in Seoul and surrounding areas killed eight people and injured fourteen.
More than a hundred residences were evacuated to temporary shelters to avoid flooding, as the downpours transformed the normally bustling streets of Gangnam, a district in Seoul, into rivers.
The capital’s heaviest hourly rainfall since 1942 was 14 centimetres.
