By Minwoo Park
UISEONG COUNTY, South Korea (Reuters) – Wildfires expanded in South Korea’s southeast region on Tuesday, threatening a world heritage site and forcing thousands more residents to evacuate their homes.
With a population of 150,000 people, the city of Andong, home to Hahoe Village, a UNESCO World Heritage site, issued an alert to its residents to evacuate to safe areas, according to a city official and a public text alert.
The official said the blaze was currently about 10 kilometres (6.21 miles) from Hahoe.
Deadly wildfires continued to rage across the region as authorities designated the affected counties ‘special disaster zones’.
At least four people have been killed and hundreds forced to flee their homes since blazes broke out in several areas on Saturday, stoked by strong winds and dry weather.
The wildfires have already gutted local landmarks including ancient Buddhist temples.
“Because this is such an old temple, it is so regrettable and heartbreaking that it has been burned down,” said Jeung Meung-suk, a 55-year-old Buddhist follower at Unramsa, a thousands-year old temple whose most buildings were burnt.
Acting President Han Duck-soo on Tuesday vowed to deploy resources from helicopters to workers on the ground to put out the fires as quickly as possible.
(Reporting by Minwoo Park, writing by Ju-min Park; Editing by)
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