Four people have been found dead following the extensive fires in South Korea. Among the worst affected places are the city of Ulsan and the municipality of Sancheong.
The fires started already on Friday but have escalated on Saturday where the Seoul government now announces an emergency after alarms of 20 forest fires.
At least three firefighters have died, including one of which. First, two of the firefighters were confirmed to have died when trying to extinguish a fire in southern Gyeongsang Province and two were missing.
Now it is also confirmed that they were missing.
At least 260 have lost their homes
Eight villages in Sancheong have been evacuated after strong winds that prevented rescue personnel from extinguishing fires in the area.
At least 260 people have been given protection in temporary shelters after losing their homes.
President Choi Sang-Mok visited the place on Saturday. He ordered the authorities to do their utmost to obtain all conceivable staff and equipment to extinguish the fire.
Choi also called for safety for the residents and emergency services and emphasized that seamless preparations should be taken if the fire continues overnight.
By 17 o’clock on Saturday local time, firefighters had only managed to extinguish a small part of the fire.