Torrential rain batters South Korea, triggering landslides and killing 22

Thousands evacuated, with numbers set to rise as dam overflows amid third day of torrential rain

Twenty-two people have died, 14 are missing and thousands have been evacuated as a third day of torrential rain causes landslides in South Korea.

The downpours caused a major dam in North Chungcheong province to overflow.

The 22 fatalities were reported on Friday and Saturday, all in central and south-east regions, the ministry of the interior and safety said in a report.

An earlier ministry report on Saturday morning said five people had died after landslides caused by torrential downpours buried their houses. Two others also died in landslide-related incidents. But the latest ministry report did not explain the cause of deaths for the additional fatalities.

The report said 14 people had been missing since Tuesday, and 13 others injured since Thursday.

South Korea has been pounded by heavy rains since 9 July. The ministry report said about 4,760 people had been forced to evacuate and thousands of households had been left without electricity in the past seven days. It said more than 2,000 people remained in temporary shelters as of Saturday afternoon.

Local government evacuation orders covered more than 7,000 people at various times, according to provincial authorities.

The tally is expected to rise as more heavy rain is expected on the Korean peninsula on Sunday, the Korea meteorological administration forecasted.

As of 9am, more than 2,700 tonnes of water a second was flowing into Goesan Dam, the maximum it can discharge.

Korea Railroad Corp said it was halting all slow trains and some bullet trains, while other bullet trains might be delayed due to slower operation, as landslides, track flooding and falling rocks threatened safety.

A slow train derailed late on Friday when a landslide threw earth and sand over tracks in North Chungcheong province, the transport ministry said. The engineer was injured, but no passengers were on board.

In a meeting with government agencies on Saturday, the prime minister, Han Duck-soo, called for the military to actively join in rescue activities, working with government officials to mobilise equipment and manpower.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was visiting Ukraine on Saturday, asked the South Korean prime minister to mobilise all available resources to respond to the disaster, according to Yoon’s office.

South Korea’s weather agency said some parts of the country would continue to receive heavy rain until Sunday.

Central regions received the largest rainfall, with more than 600 millimeters (24 in) in the city of Gongju and the county of Cheongyang since 9 July, respectively.

Source