Nearly 30 wildfires broke out in southeastern South Korea over the weekend, killing four people and injuring six others, officials said on Sunday.
Thousands of firefighters and dozens of helicopters were sent out to fight 29 fires that burned through at least 4,700 acres and forced the evacuation of around 1,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry. The fires also disrupted train service and prompted the closing of some roads.
On Saturday evening, the government declared a state of disaster for part of the region. All but six of the 29 fires had been extinguished by Sunday morning, the Interior Ministry said.
All of the reported deaths and injuries were linked to a fire that started in Sancheong County, about 160 miles southeast of Seoul, the capital, on Friday afternoon, officials said.
Five of the six people hurt were seriously injured, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. At least two of the dead were firefighters, officials said.
The Sancheong fire started when a farmer’s lawn mower caught fire, the authorities told the local news media.
A government report said a separate blaze began on Saturday morning in a cemetery in Euiseong County, about 110 miles southeast of Seoul. Another fire ignited from a garbage incinerator on Saturday afternoon in Gimhae, a city about 20 miles inland from Busan in the Korean Peninsula’s southeastern corner.
As of Sunday morning, the fire in Sancheong was about 30 percent contained, according to local officials. The fire in Euiseong was only about 3 percent contained, but fire officials said they expected to have it under control by the end of the day.
South Korean officials say that dry and windy conditions have allowed fires to spread easily. March, April and May are some of the nation’s driest months, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.
