Floods, Landslides Caused by Heavy Rains Kill Over 30 South Koreans

Senin, 17 Juli 2023 – 08:15 WIB

Osong – Floods and landslides caused by heavy rains left 32 people dead across South Korea and 10 missing while thousands of residents were evacuated from their rain-damaged homes, the authorities said on Sunday.

The Central Office of Disaster Management and Rescue said that 26 people were reported dead from the heavy rains that hit the country since last week, while 10 others were still missing, data collected as of 6 am local time.

Rescue workers recovered six additional bodies from a bus trapped by floodwaters in an underground tunnel in the central city of Osong.

The 685-meter-long tunnel was flooded in Osong, North Chungcheong province earlier in the day when a nearby river overflowed after an embankment broke due to rising water levels caused by heavy rains.

By Sunday morning, the death toll from the flooding in the tunnel had risen to seven and was expected to rise as rescue operations continued for 15 vehicles and several people thought to be trapped inside the tunnel.

Most of the deaths were reported in the southeastern province of North Gyeongsang, where 17 people were killed by landslides and collapsed houses, and nine others remain missing.

One of the missing was reported in Busan, the office said. In addition, thirteen people were injured due to heavy rains across the region.

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As of 6 pm, a reported 7,540 people from 13 cities had been evacuated from their homes, including 2,301 in North Chungcheong Province, and a total of 5,933 people had not returned to their homes due to safety concerns, according to authorities.