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SEOUL (Reuters) – Rescuers struggled to reach people trapped in a flooded tunnel Sunday in South Korea, where at least 33 people were dead and 10 missing after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides.
South Korea has reached the peak of the summer monsoon season, and there have been heavy rains in the past four days, causing a large dam to overflow.
The Ministry of Interior stated that 33 people were killed and 10 others were missing in the heavy rains, most of whom were buried by landslides or after falling into a flooded reservoir.
Rescue workers are still struggling to reach more than 10 cars trapped in a 430-meter (1,410-foot) underground tunnel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong The ministry said.
Yonhap news agency reported that the tunnel was flooded on Saturday morning after floodwaters swept in so quickly that those inside could not escape.
The Interior Ministry said that as of Sunday, seven bodies had been recovered from the tunnel and divers were working around the clock to search for more victims.
“I have no hope, but I can’t leave,” the father of one of those missing in the tunnel told Yonhap.
“My heart aches when I think of how painful my son was in the cold water.”
Pictures broadcast on local television showed a torrential flow of water from a nearby river that flooded its banks in the tunnel, as rescue workers struggled to use boats to reach the people inside.
President of South Korea Yoon Seok YulHe, who is currently on an overseas trip, held an emergency meeting with his aides on the government’s response to the heavy rains and floods, said his office.
Earlier, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo had ordered all available resources to be mobilized to minimize losses.
The majority of the victims – including 17 of the dead and nine of the missing – were from North Gyeongsang Province, largely due to massive landslides in the mountainous area that submerged homes and the people inside.
The Interior Ministry said some of the people reported missing were swept away when a river in the province burst its banks.
More rain is expected through Wednesday, and the Korea Meteorological Administration warned that the weather conditions posed a “grave” danger.
South Korea experiences floods regularly during the summer monsoon period, but the country is usually 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 was hit by record rains and floods last year, which left more than 11 people dead.
They included three people who died trapped in a basement apartment in Seoul of the kind made known internationally by the Academy Award-winning Korean film “Parasite.”
The government said at the time that the 2022 floods were the heaviest rainfall since weather records began in Seoul 115 years ago, blaming climate change for the extreme weather.
South Korea has reached the peak of the summer monsoon season, and there have been heavy rains in the past four days, causing a large dam to overflow.
The Ministry of Interior stated that 33 people were killed and 10 others were missing in the heavy rains, most of whom were buried by landslides or after falling into a flooded reservoir.
Rescue workers are still struggling to reach more than 10 cars trapped in a 430-meter (1,410-foot) underground tunnel in Cheongju, North Chungcheong The ministry said.
Yonhap news agency reported that the tunnel was flooded on Saturday morning after floodwaters swept in so quickly that those inside could not escape.
The Interior Ministry said that as of Sunday, seven bodies had been recovered from the tunnel and divers were working around the clock to search for more victims.
“I have no hope, but I can’t leave,” the father of one of those missing in the tunnel told Yonhap.
“My heart aches when I think of how painful my son was in the cold water.”
Pictures broadcast on local television showed a torrential flow of water from a nearby river that flooded its banks in the tunnel, as rescue workers struggled to use boats to reach the people inside.
President of South Korea Yoon Seok YulHe, who is currently on an overseas trip, held an emergency meeting with his aides on the government’s response to the heavy rains and floods, said his office.
Earlier, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo had ordered all available resources to be mobilized to minimize losses.
The majority of the victims – including 17 of the dead and nine of the missing – were from North Gyeongsang Province, largely due to massive landslides in the mountainous area that submerged homes and the people inside.
The Interior Ministry said some of the people reported missing were swept away when a river in the province burst its banks.
More rain is expected through Wednesday, and the Korea Meteorological Administration warned that the weather conditions posed a “grave” danger.
South Korea experiences floods regularly during the summer monsoon period, but the country is usually 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 was hit by record rains and floods last year, which left more than 11 people dead.
They included three people who died trapped in a basement apartment in Seoul of the kind made known internationally by the Academy Award-winning Korean film “Parasite.”
The government said at the time that the 2022 floods were the heaviest rainfall since weather records began in Seoul 115 years ago, blaming climate change for the extreme weather.
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