Workers save Buddha as S. Korea's wildfires raze ancient temple; tens of thousands evacuated as deadly fire tears through mountain

A resident uses a smartphone to record a wildfire in Yeongyang, South Korea, on Tuesday, March 26, 2025. -- REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

ANDONG, South Korea (AFP): At South Korea's thousand-year-old Gounsa Temple, workers delicately swaddled a giant gilded Buddha statue with a fire-retardant blanket.

Hours later much of the temple burned down in one of the deadliest wildfires to hit South Korea -- but the Buddha and the wooden hall it was in survived.