Wildfires rage southern South Korea, killing 18 people and forcing 27,000 to evacuate

Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever were ravaging the country’s southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said Wednesday.

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Officials also said a helicopter crashed during efforts to contain wildfires in the southeastern town of Uiseong, one of the areas hardest-hit by the wildfires. The Korea Forest Service said rescue efforts were underway and it was presumed that the aircraft was operated by one pilot with no crew members.

An ancient Buddhist temple, houses, factories and vehicles were among the structures destroyed in the wildfires that have burned 42,330 acres and injured 19 people, the government’s emergency response center said.

In a televised address, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the wildfires that began last Friday were causing worse damage than many other past wildfires.

“Damages are snowballing,” Han said. “There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week.”