Three die as S Korean region battles most rain in 120 years

AT LEAST three people were killed and more than 1 000 evacuated yesterday after South Korea was hit by torrential rains, officials said, with one region pummelled by the most rainfall per hour since full records began.

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South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July, but three areas in the country’s South Chungcheong province this week saw some of the heaviest hourly downpours on record, official weather data showed.

Three people were killed yesterday, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said, all in South Chuncheong province.

“As of 4pm local time at least three people have died today due to torrential rains,” a Ministry of Interior and Safety official said, adding that more than 1,000 people had been evacuated.

Police said that one person was found inside a submerged vehicle, an elderly man was swept away near a stream, and another elderly man had been found dead in a flooded basement apartment after his son reported him missing.