Fires rage in South Korea: 24 people dead, ancient temple destroyed.

24 people have died as a result of wildfires in South Korea

As a result of a major wildfire in the province of Icheon in South Korea, at least 24 people have died, including four rescuers. This was reported by CNN, citing a source from Glavkom.

This disaster, exacerbated by strong winds and dry weather, destroyed dozens of buildings, including the 1300-year-old Gounsa Buddhist temple. Only the ceremonial bell was broken, and part of the valuable artifacts were managed to be saved and removed.

During the firefighting efforts, a helicopter crashed. The pilot died instantly.

The fire engulfed more than 17 thousand hectares of forest and caused significant destruction in the region. The Prime Minister of South Korea, Han Duck-soo, called these fires the most serious in recent years and urged to mobilize all possible resources to extinguish them.

'We must focus all our efforts on extinguishing the wildfires by the end of this week, as the destruction concerns us,' he stated.

It was noted that a state of emergency has been declared in South Korea due to large wildfires that broke out in the south of the country. This was reported by Glavkom, citing Bloomberg.

On Friday, firefighters made every effort to suppress the fire in the southern district of Sancheong and at least three other areas. According to the Forest Service of South Korea, the fire in Sancheong, which resulted in four people dead and six injured, was localized at 25% by Saturday evening.