'Worst' fires kill at least 19

About 27,000 forced to leave their homes

- 

At least 19 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple raging blazes causing "unprecedented damage", the acting president said yesterday.

More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, forcing around 27,000 people to urgently evacuate, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents fled in panic.

Overnight into yesterday, the death toll jumped to 19 as wind-driven flames tore through neighbourhoods and razed an ancient temple. Eighteen people were killed in the wildfires and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.

According to the interior ministry, the wildfires have charred 17,398 hectares, with the blaze in Uiseong county alone accounting for 87% of the total.