Floods And Landslides Kill 32 Residents Of North Gyeongsang, South Korea

The floods and landslides caused 32 people to die across South Korea and 10 people were missing while thousands of residents were evacuated from their houses damaged by the rain, authorities said on Sunday.

Reported by ANTARA, Sunday, July 16, the Head Office of Disaster Management and Rescue said 26 people were reported to have died due to heavy rains that hit the country since last week, while 10 others were still missing, data collected until 06.00 local time.

Rescue workers found an additional six bodies of a bus caught in a flood in an underground tunnel in downtown Osong.

The 685 meter long tunnel was flooded in Osong, North Chungcheong province on the previous day when a nearby river overflowed after the embankment collapsed due to rising water levels due to heavy rains.

On Sunday morning, the number of victims who died from flooding in the tunnel increased to seven people and is expected to increase with continued rescue operations over 15 other vehicles and several people believed to be trapped in the tunnel.

Most of the victims who died were reported to be in the southeastern province of North Gyeongsang, where 17 people died as a result of landslides and collapsed houses, and nine others were still missing.

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

At 6 am, 7,540 people from 13 cities were reported to have been evacuated from their homes, including 2,301 people in North Chungcheong Province, and 5,933 people have not returned to their respective homes due to security concerns, according to information from the authorities.

A total of 226 cases of damage to public and private buildings have been reported, including 25 cases of public roads destroyed or swept away by water, 25 cases of collapsed river embankments and 33 houses flooded.

Heavy rains also caused 211 roads to be closed, and 10 of them still cannot be used until 6 am.

All train operations were suspended, although the KTX bullet train was still operating on several routes.

In addition, 20 national parks across the country were closed, and 12 flights were canceled on Sunday.

At 5 am, warnings of heavy rain were issued in the southern hinterland of Gangwon Province, Chungcheong province, southern region and Jeju Island. The coastal areas of South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang province have been estimated to experience heavy rain of up to 30 millimeters per hour.

Over the next two days, the southern region of South Korea, the center of Chungcheong Province and Jeju Island is expected to experience rainfall between 50 mm-200 mm, while the wider Seoul area is expected to experience rain between 5 mm-60 mm, the weather agency said.

Landslides warnings across the country, except on Jeju Island, have also been upgraded to the highest "gawat" level.