SEOUL: At least 22 people have died and 14 more are missing after heavy rain caused flooding and landslides in South Korea, officials said Saturday, with thousands more ordered to evacuate their homes.
South Korea is at the peak of its summer monsoon season and there has been heavy rainfall for the last three days, triggering widespread flooding and landslides, and causing a major dam to overflow.
The interior ministry reported that 22 people had been killed and another 14 were missing in the heavy downpours, mostly buried by landslides or after falling into a flooded reservoir.
The majority of the casualties—including 16 dead and nine missing—come from North Gyeongsang province, largely due to massive landslides in the mountainous area that engulfed houses with people inside.
SPONSORED CONTENT A&W poised for rapid growth in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: A&W is geared to become the leading Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain in Sabah, with its strong re-entry into Sabah with the opening of the first outlet in Inanam in November 2022. Read more South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency had earlier reported 24 deaths, citing local disaster relief officials.
In the most severely affected areas, “entire houses were swept away whole”, one emergency responder told Yonhap.
More than 6,400 residents in the central county of Goesan were ordered to evacuate early Saturday as the Goesan Dam began overflowing and submerging low-lying villages nearby, the interior ministry said.
Some of the people who have been reported missing were swept away when a river overflowed in North Gyeongsang province, the ministry said.
Rescue workers were battling to reach some 19 cars which were trapped in an underground tunnel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong province, where one person was found dead, according to Yonhap.
The Korea Meteorological Administration issued heavy rain warnings, saying more rain was forecast through to Wednesday next week, saying the weather conditions pose a “grave” danger.
South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo urged officials to pre-empt river overflows and landslides, and requested support for rescue operations from the defence ministry. Record heat is forecast around the world from the United States, where tens of millions are battling dangerously high temperatures, to Europe and Japan, in the latest example of the threat from global warming. Italy faces weekend predictions of historic highs with the health ministry issuing a red alert for 16 cities including Rome, Bologna and Florence.
The thermometer could hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Rome by Monday and even 43C on Tuesday, smashing the record 40.5C set in August 2007.
The islands of Sicily and Sardinia could wilt under temperatures as high as 48C, the European Space Agency warned—“potentially the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Europe”.
Greece is also roasting.
The Acropolis, Athens’s top tourist attraction, closed for a second day straight Saturday during the hottest hours with 41C expected, as were several parks in the capital.
Access to the UNESCO-listed archaeological site dating to antiquity is being suspended from midday to early evening “to protect workers and visitors”, the culture ministry said.
Regions of France, Germany, Spain and Poland are also baking in searing temperatures.
China has for weeks been hit by extreme weather—from heavy rains to suffocating heatwaves.
Parts of eastern Japan are also expected to reach 38 to 39C (100.4 to 102.2F) on Sunday and Monday, with the meteorological agency warning temperatures could hit previous records.
But relentless monsoon rains have reportedly killed at least 90 people in northern India, after burning heat.
The Yamuna river running through the capital New Delhi has reached a record high of 208.66 metres, more than a metre over the flood top set in 1978, threatening low-lying neighbourhoods in the megacity of more than 20 million people.
Americans are watching as a powerful heatwave has stretches from California to Texas, with its peak expected this weekend. A heat dome has been baking the southwestern states all week, posing serious health risks.
In Arizona, one of the hardest-hit states, residents face a daily endurance marathon against the sun.
State capital Phoenix was to record its 15th straight day above 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43C) on Friday, according to the National Weather Services.
California’s famous Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, is also likely to register new peaks Sunday, with the mercury possibly rising to 130F (54C).
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.