Dry weather, winds fuel deadly wildfires in South Korea

As of Wednesday morning, 12 people had died in a wildfire starting from Uiseong county, while four other deaths were linked to another fire from Sancheong county, according to the Safety Ministry.

Multiple blazes fuelled by dry winds have destroyed hundreds of structures, including a 1300-year-old Buddhist temple.

More than 5500 people were forced to evacuate from their homes in Andong, the neighbouring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan, where the fires were the largest

The Uiseong fire, only 68 per cent contained and exacerbated by strong winds, shows "unimaginable" scale and speed, said Lee Byung-doo, a forest disaster expert at the National Institute of Forest Science.

Acting President Han Duck-soo has vowed to deploy firefighting helicopters and ground personnel to battle the fires, fuelled by winds and dry weather.

Nearly 9000 firefighters, along with more than 130 helicopters and hundreds of vehicles, were  battling the fires, but efforts were partially suspended overnight as the winds strengthened.

Dry conditions are expected to persist in the wildfire-hit region on Wednesday, the Safety Ministry said.

Climate change was projected to make wildfires more frequent, Lee said, as wildfires that ravaged part of Los Angeles in January and a recent wildfire in northeast Japan were still relatively rare.

"We have to admit large-scale wildfires are going to increase and prepare more resources and manpower," he told a local television station.

The casualties included four people who were trying to escape the fire but their vehicle was overturned. Three died and one was injured, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The blazes that broke out on Saturday in Uiseong are yet to be contained, gutting ancient temples and destroying homes.

The government has designated the affected areas as special disaster zones, and said the fires had damaged more than 15,000 hectares. 

- with AP