At least 33 people have died and ten are missing after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides in South Korea, authorities said on Sunday. Rescue teams are actively searching for people trapped in a flooded underground tunnel.
South Korea is in the midst of the summer monsoon season, and heavy rains have been falling for the past four days, resulting in extensive flooding, landslides, and the overflow of a major dam.
The Ministry of Interior announced that 33 people had been killed and ten others were reported missing as a result of the torrential rains. Most of the victims were either buried by landslides or fell into a swollen reservoir.
Rescue workers are trying to reach about fifteen cars trapped in a 430-meter-long underground tunnel in Cheongju, in North Chungcheong Province, according to the ministry.
According to the Yonhap news agency, the tunnel was submerged on Saturday morning after a sudden flood.
"I have no hope left, but I cannot leave," said the relative of one of the missing victims in the tunnel to Yonhap. "My heart breaks thinking about the pain my son must have felt in the cold water," he added.
Images broadcasted by local television show a torrent of water from a nearby river overflowing and rushing into the tunnel, with rescuers using boats to reach the victims inside.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, currently traveling abroad, held an emergency meeting with his staff regarding the government's response to the severe weather conditions and floods, according to his office.
Previously, he had instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to mobilize all available resources to minimize the number of casualties.
The majority of the victims, including 17 deaths and nine missing, are from North Gyeongsang Province, with the mountainous region being particularly affected by landslides that engulfed houses and trapped occupants inside.
Some of the missing individuals were swept away by the overflowing of a river in North Gyeongsang Province, the ministry reported.
Further rains are expected until Wednesday, and the Korean Meteorological Administration has warned that the weather conditions pose a "serious" danger.
Last year, the country also experienced significant rains and floods, which resulted in the deaths of 11 people.
The government had stated that the precipitation in 2022 was the heaviest since Seoul began keeping meteorological records 115 years ago, attributing these extreme conditions to climate change.
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