Saturday, September 13, 2025
spot_img

Landslides kill 22 after downpours in S Korea

Date:

Share post:

spot_imgspot_img

Seoul: Torrential rain pounding South Korea on Wednesday triggered landslides which killed 22 people, flooded hundreds of homes and turned main roads into rivers of churning, muddy water.

Thirteen people died when a mudslide hit an inn and three homes in the mountainous Chuncheon area 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Seoul early on Wednesday, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

Nine people were killed the same day in southern Seoul by landslides from Umyeon mountain in the city, which was hit by 433.5 millimetres (17.34 inches) of rain in 40 hours between on Tuesday and on Wednesday.

Hundreds of people were forced to evacuate their homes.

Search and rescue efforts by more than 500 firefighters and police were still underway at Chuncheon, where ten of the victims were students from Inha University in the western city of Incheon, who were in the area for volunteer work.

“I was sleeping on the second floor of the pension (inn) when I heard the thunderous sound of a landslide. The stairs collapsed and I was buried under mud,” one student rescued by firefighters told Yonhap news agency. NEMA said 20 others were injured, four of them seriously. (AFP)

In Seoul, police declared an emergency, and more than 4,000 officers were mobilised to help ease traffic gridlock, block roads deemed too dangerous to use, and aid rescue efforts.

Streets, subway stations, underpasses and residential districts were flooded throughout the capital. At Uijeongbu north of Seoul, Yonhap said that three people were reported missing in flooded streams and rivers. (AFP)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

spot_imgspot_img

Related articles

Study claims artificial sweeteners can lead to faster cognitive decline

New Delhi, Sep 13:  Long-term use of artificial sweeteners or low- and no-calorie sweeteners, used mainly by people...

Greater Noida tragedy: Mother, 11-year-old son end lives by jumping from 13th floor

Greater Noida, Sep 13: A heart-wrenching incident shocked residents of a high rise apartment in Greater Noida West...

Dalai Lama congratulates Sushila Karki on becoming Nepal’s interim PM

Dharamshala, Sep 13: Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama on Saturday congratulated Sushila Karki on being appointed as...

Northeast being threaded together with ambitious railway projects in new connectivity era

New Delhi, Sep 13: Once considered a distant terrain, the northeast region is now being threaded together with...