US EditionSouth Korea firefighters deploy helicopters as country's largest wildfires reignite
- Starting last week and reigniting overnight on Saturday, South Korea experienced its largest wildfires on record, primarily affecting the southeastern regions, including Andong in North Gyeongsang province, prompting the deployment of firefighters and helicopters on March 29, 2025.
- Fueled by high winds and dry conditions after South Korea's hottest year on record in 2024, the wildfires were reportedly started accidentally by a grave visitor using a brush cutter while tending to gravesites on March 22.
- The fires destroyed over 2,900 homes, the Gounsa temple complex in Uiseong, and burned more than 48,000 hectares , leading authorities to block off sections of highways in the affected regions.
- As Lee Hye-young, a 65-year-old Andong resident, told AFP, "It was really scary to see the sparks flying around all at once," while Do Gyu-myeong told AFP that completing operations and extinguishing fires may take time.
- The disaster resulted in 30 deaths, including a helicopter pilot, and 45 injuries, highlighting South Korea's demographic crisis in underpopulated and disproportionately elderly rural areas, prompting investigations and government support for displaced people and a review of preparedness for major wildfires amid rapid climate change.
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South Korean Man Suspected Of Starting Wildfires While Cleaning Grave
South Korean police have launched a probe into a man suspected of accidentally igniting the country's worst wildfires in history while cleaning his relatives' gravesites, an investigator said Sunday.
·New Delhi, India
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Pacific Daily News+58 Reposted by 58 other sources
South Korean man cleaning gravesite suspected of starting wildfires: police
South Korean police have launched a probe into a man suspected of accidentally igniting the country's worst wildfires in history while cleaning his relatives' gravesites, an investigator said Sunday.
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