The Fort Worth Press - Heavy rains, flooding leave 33 dead in South Korea

USD -
AED 3.672983
AFN 68.112673
ALL 94.198378
AMD 389.366092
ANG 1.801814
AOA 913.000342
ARS 1002.373762
AUD 1.535425
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.702735
BAM 1.877057
BBD 2.018523
BDT 119.468305
BGN 1.87679
BHD 0.376794
BIF 2953.116752
BMD 1
BND 1.347473
BOB 6.908201
BRL 5.800986
BSD 0.99976
BTN 84.384759
BWP 13.658045
BYN 3.27175
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015164
CAD 1.39773
CDF 2871.000206
CHF 0.893259
CLF 0.035441
CLP 977.925332
CNY 7.242966
CNH 7.255695
COP 4389.749988
CRC 509.237487
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.825615
CZK 24.28895
DJF 178.031575
DKK 7.158303
DOP 60.252411
DZD 134.221412
EGP 49.58284
ERN 15
ETB 122.388982
EUR 0.95985
FJD 2.27595
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.797766
GEL 2.73993
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.795384
GIP 0.789317
GMD 70.999977
GNF 8617.496041
GTQ 7.717261
GYD 209.15591
HKD 7.784201
HNL 25.264168
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.234704
HUF 394.421502
IDR 15943.55
ILS 3.70177
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.43625
IQD 1309.659773
IRR 42074.999774
ISK 139.680283
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.268679
JOD 0.709102
JPY 154.770141
KES 129.468784
KGS 86.500646
KHR 4025.145161
KMF 472.503525
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1404.509773
KWD 0.30785
KYD 0.833149
KZT 499.179423
LAK 21959.786938
LBP 89526.368828
LKR 290.973655
LRD 180.450118
LSL 18.040693
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.882192
MAD 10.057392
MDL 18.23504
MGA 4666.25078
MKD 59.052738
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.015644
MRU 39.77926
MUR 46.850206
MVR 15.459571
MWK 1733.576467
MXN 20.44549
MYR 4.468031
MZN 63.909924
NAD 18.040693
NGN 1696.699662
NIO 36.786794
NOK 11.077505
NPR 135.016076
NZD 1.714076
OMR 0.384846
PAB 0.99976
PEN 3.790969
PGK 4.025145
PHP 58.938964
PKR 277.626662
PLN 4.158919
PYG 7804.59715
QAR 3.646048
RON 4.78029
RSD 112.294256
RUB 104.167286
RWF 1364.748788
SAR 3.754429
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.698973
SDG 601.496859
SEK 11.03372
SGD 1.346598
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.729751
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.332598
SRD 35.494034
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.748021
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.034455
THB 34.592502
TJS 10.647152
TMT 3.5
TND 3.17616
TOP 2.342096
TRY 34.514978
TTD 6.790153
TWD 32.583495
TZS 2659.340659
UAH 41.35995
UGX 3694.035222
UYU 42.516436
UZS 12825.951341
VES 46.55914
VND 25419
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 629.547483
XAG 0.031938
XAU 0.000369
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.760497
XOF 629.547483
XPF 114.458467
YER 249.92504
ZAR 18.08816
ZMK 9001.202175
ZMW 27.617448
ZWL 321.999592
  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

Heavy rains, flooding leave 33 dead in South Korea
Heavy rains, flooding leave 33 dead in South Korea / Photo: © National Fire Agency/AFP

Heavy rains, flooding leave 33 dead in South Korea

Rescuers battled to reach people trapped in a flooded tunnel Sunday in South Korea, where at least 33 people have died and 10 are missing after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides.

Text size:

South Korea is at the peak of its summer monsoon season, and there has been heavy rainfall for the last four days, causing a major dam to overflow.

The interior ministry reported that 33 people had been killed and another 10 were missing in the heavy downpours, mostly buried by landslides or after falling into a flooded reservoir.

Rescue workers were still struggling to reach more than 10 cars trapped in a 430-metre (1,410-foot) underground tunnel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong province, the ministry said.

The tunnel was inundated on Saturday morning after floodwaters swept in too quickly for the people inside to escape, according to the Yonhap news agency.

As of Sunday, seven bodies have been recovered from the tunnel and divers were working around the clock searching for more victims, the interior ministry said.

"I have no hope but I can't leave," a parent of one of those missing in the tunnel told Yonhap.

"My heart wrenches thinking how painful it must have been for my son in the cold water."

Images broadcast on local television showed a torrential stream of water from a nearby river that had burst its banks flooding into the tunnel, as rescue workers struggled to use boats to get to people inside.

- 'Grave' danger -

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 to the heavy rains and flooding, 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 17 of the dead and nine 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.

More rain is forecast through Wednesday, and the Korea Meteorological Administration has warned the weather conditions pose a "grave" danger.

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.

W.Lane--TFWP