At least 26 people have died in the worst wildfires on record in South Korea, massive infernos that have spread quickly over the past week, consuming hundreds of structures including two ancient Buddhist temples, officials said.
The Interior Ministry gave the updated death toll in a report issued Thursday morning local time. It also said the blazes, which began last Friday, had scorched or were still burning across 88,000 acres of land in the country’s southeastern region — double the figure from the previous day.
The largest blaze previously was in 2000, when fires blazed across 59,000 acres, killing two people, according to government archives.
Flames and smoke have damaged 317 buildings across the region, according to the ministry. That includes the two temples, each more than 1,000 years old. Videos from local news stations showed the inferno surrounding and then closing in on them.
The Korea Heritage Service said via social media on Wednesday that some treasures from one, the Gounsa temple, including a stone Buddha statue, had been removed before the fire reached it.
The 26 fatalities included a pilot whose helicopter crashed during firefighting efforts, according to the National Fire Agency. It said it could not immediately provide further details. The Yonhap News agency reported that he was 73 years old and was in a helicopter that could carry 1,200 liters (about 317 gallons) of water.
In addition, at least 29 people have been injured, eight of them seriously, the Interior Ministry said. Many of those who died were in their 60s and 70s, a local police official said in a briefing.
More than 27,000 people have been evacuated, the government said on Wednesday. Among them were residents of the 600-year-old Andong Hahoe folk village, a UNESCO World Heritage site more than 130 miles southeast of Seoul. Villagers described the blaze as “the devil” on social media and expressed frustration at the lack of success in putting it out.
Out of nearly 30 blazes since Friday, five were still burning early Thursday, including the largest, which covered some 82,000 acres. The government said that firefighters had contained 44 percent of that blaze, but windy conditions have prevented them from mobilizing helicopters and drones.
The nation’s weather agency forecast small amounts of rain in the region by the end of the week, but officials said they doubted it would do much to help put out the flames.
The fires appeared to be “breaking the record for the worst wildfires ever,” said acting President Han Duck-soo, who just this week was reinstated after being impeached in December.
Local officials closed off roads and suspended train services, and some places lost power.
The first blaze started on Friday afternoon in Sancheong County, around 160 miles southeast of the capital. The Interior Ministry said a farmer’s lawn mower had started it.
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