South Korea evacuates thousands of scouts ahead of typhoon

British participants who left a camping site of the 25th World Scout Jamboree arrive at a hotel in Seoul, South Korea, August 5, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

BUAN, South Korea (Reuters) -South Korea on Tuesday started evacuating thousands of teenage participants at the World Scout Jamboree from a campsite in the southwest of the country to safer areas mainly around the capital Seoul ahead of an approaching typhoon.

The evacuation is the latest blow to the 10-day jamboree, after hundreds fell ill due to a heatwave and amid mounting complaints from parents over its organisation, which prompted the earlier withdrawal of the U.S. and British scout contingents.