A Thai woman has died in a flash flood in Gyeongsangbuk-do, over 200km southeast of Seoul. She was among 39 fatalities in recent flooding and land-slides in South Korea, after heavy monsoon rainfall caused a major reservoir to overtop its dam.
The Thai embassy in Seoul advised Thais on its Facebook page to be more careful and aware of possible flash flooding and landslides in many areas during the next 1-2 weeks. According to the embassy, the husband of the deceased, who is also Thai, and her employer, have been contacted to make arrangements for her remains to be returned to Thailand.
AFP quoted the South Korean interior ministry as saying that hundreds of rescue workers are still struggling to reach more than 10 cars and an unknown number of people who remain trapped in a 430-metre underground tunnel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong province.
The tunnel was inundated on Saturday morning after floodwaters swept in too quickly for the vehicles inside to escape, according to the Yonhap news agency, adding that the police have received missing person reports for 11 people believed to be in the tunnel, but a final official toll has not yet been provided, as it is unclear how many people were in each car.
Five people were rescued from a bus in the tunnel Saturday, and nine bodies have so far been pulled from the site, with divers working around the clock searching for more victims, the interior ministry said.
Rescuers search for survivors along a road submerged by floodwaters leading to an underground tunnel in Cheongju, South Korea, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (Photo courtesy of South Korea National Fire Agency via AP)
More rain
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is currently on an overseas trip, held an emergency meeting with his aides on the government’s response, his office said.
Earlier, he ordered Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to mobilise all available resources to minimise casualties.
The majority of the casualties — including 19 of the dead and eight of the missing — were from North Gyeongsang province, and were largely due to massive landslides in the mountainous area that engulfed houses with people inside.
Some of the people who have been reported missing were swept away when a river overflowed in the province, the interior ministry said, and more than 1,500 people have been unable to return after evacuating from their homes.
The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast more heavy rain through Wednesday, and urged the public to “refrain from going outside”.
South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but the country is typically well-prepared and the death toll is usually relatively low.
Scientists say climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and more frequent.
South Korea endured record-breaking rains and flooding last year, which left more than 11 people dead.
They included three people who died trapped in a Seoul basement apartment of the kind that became internationally known because of the Oscar-winning Korean film “Parasite”.
The government said at the time that the 2022 flooding was the heaviest rainfall since Seoul weather records began 115 years ago, blaming climate change for the extreme weather.
By Thai PBS World, with addition from AFP
Rescuers search for survivors along a road submerged by floodwaters leading to an underground tunnel in Cheongju, South Korea, Sunday, July 16, 2023. (Photo by Kim Ju-hyung/Yonhap via AP)
