Damage mounts in South Korea as torrential rains enter fourth day

SEOUL – Torrential rains that lashed South Korea for a fourth day on July 19 kept nearly 3,000 people from returning to their homes, while livestock were

stranded up to the neck in rising waters

as the death toll reached at least seven, with five missing, authorities said.

A landslide killed at least three people, the national fire agency said on July 19, as rescuers battled to find three others who were believed to be buried under earth and debris.

Heavy rain pounding the country had unleashed the landslide that buried two houses in a village in southern Sancheong county, officials said.

“At least three people have been reported missing, two people are in cardiac arrest and three were killed,” the national fire agency said in a statement, adding that 17 people had been rescued so far.

Rain will last until July 21 in some areas, weather officials said, urging extreme caution against the risk of landslides and flooding, with warnings across most of the nation.

Earlier, the interior ministry said that by 6am local time on July 19, 2,816 people were still out of their homes, from a total of more than 7,000 evacuated during the prior days of heavy rain. The flooding had claimed the lives of four people with two missing, it said.

Rainfall since July 16 reached a record of more than 500mm at Seosan in South Chungcheong province, south of capital Seoul, it added. Elsewhere in the province, cows were desperately trying to keep their heads above water after sheds and stables flooded.

The tally of water-damaged structures stood at more than 641 buildings, 388 roads and 59 farms, the ministry said.

Rains were also expected in neighbouring North Korea.

From July 20 to 22, 150mm to 200mm of rain could fall in some northern areas, rising to 300mm in some remote regions, the weather agency said, according to state newspaper Rodong Sinmun. REUTERS