At least two more people were confirmed dead in South Korea on Sunday as heavy rains continued to batter the country, bringing the total death toll from the week’s torrential downpours to 14, according to the interior ministry.
Authorities warned the toll could rise, with 12 people still missing after five consecutive days of intense rainfall.
Gapyeong County in Gyeonggi Province—about 70 kilometers (40 miles) east of Seoul—was among the hardest hit areas, receiving nearly 170 millimeters (6.7 inches) of rain early Sunday. Two people were reported dead and four missing in the region.
According to Yonhap news agency, one victim was a woman in her 70s who died after a landslide caused her house to collapse. The other was a man in his 40s, whose body was found near a bridge after he reportedly drowned.
Most of the fatalities so far have occurred in Sancheong, a rural county in the south, where nearly 800 millimeters of rain have fallen since Wednesday. Search teams discovered two more bodies there on Sunday morning, raising the local death toll to eight. Six others remain unaccounted for.
While South Korea is typically well-prepared for seasonal monsoon rains in July, this week’s deluge has brought some of the heaviest hourly rainfall on record, especially in southern regions.
Experts attribute the increasing frequency and severity of such weather events to climate change. In 2022, South Korea experienced historic rainfall and flooding that killed at least 11 people.
AFP
