15 cars stuck in flooded tunnel: number of deaths from storms in South Korea has risen to at least 26

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In South Korea, the death toll from landslides and flooding caused by heavy rainfall has risen to at least 26. According to Seoul’s interior ministry, ten more people were missing on Sunday. About 15 cars were still trapped in a flooded tunnel.

South Korea is in the middle of the monsoon season. Usually the country is well prepared and the death toll is usually low. But now four days of heavy rain fell, causing a dam to flood, among other things.

Rescuers continued to try to get about 15 cars trapped in a 430-meter-long tunnel in Cheongju, northern Chungcheong province, the ministry said on Sunday. According to the Yonhap news agency, the tunnel filled up so quickly on Saturday that people could not save themselves.

According to Yonhap, five bodies were recovered from a bus in the tunnel on Sunday, so they have not yet been included in the official death toll.

North Gyeongsang has been hardest hit by the storms, with 17 dead and nine missing. In the mountain area, the water masses had caused several large landslides. According to the Interior Ministry, some of the missing were also swept away by a river during floods. The South Korean weather service predicted further precipitation until Wednesday.

South Korea had already experienced heavy rainfall and flooding last year, killing 11 people. The government stated at the time that it was the heaviest rainfall since weather records began 115 years ago. She attributed the extreme weather to climate change.

(AFP)

Source: Blick