Covered in smog: Smoke from the wildfire is seen near a lake in Gangneung, South Korea. — AP
SEOUL: At least one person was killed and hundreds of others were forced to flee a wildfire fuelled by strong winds that burned parts of an eastern coastal city in South Korea, destroying dozens of homes.
It took eight hours and nearly 3,000 firefighters to put out the blaze that started on a mountain in a central part of Gangneung at around 8.30am yesterday and destroyed around 70 homes and other buildings.
Over 550 people evacuated to facilities that included an ice-skating arena and a school gym.
A man presumed to be in his 70s was found dead inside a burnt-down home while another resident and two firefighters sustained second-degree burns, officials said.
The Korea Forest Service said firefighters put out about 88% of the fire as of 3.30pm.
Gangwon provincial Gov Kim Jin-tae said the fire appeared to be slowed by rain that began in the afternoon and that firefighters were aiming to bring the flames fully under control by sunset.
Their efforts were initially slowed by powerful winds that made it difficult to fly water-dropping aircraft, but officials managed to deploy helicopters in the afternoon.
The Korea Meteorological Administration said winds in the Gangneung area were still blowing at 103kph.
The strong winds also forced railroad operators to cancel at least a dozen passenger trains between Gangneung and other eastern coastal cities like Donghae and Samcheok.
The fire covered more than 379ha and firefighters were establishing barriers while focusing on preventing the flames from spreading to more populated areas of Gangneung, according to the Korea Forest Service and the Gangwon provincial government.
The Korea Forest Services said that the fire was likely sparked by a tree that fell over a powerline after being snapped by strong winds. — AP
