SEOUL - Hundreds of scouts at a massive jamboree in South Korea suffered heat exhaustion, organisers said on Wednesday, as the peninsula battles a heatwave that has caused a reported spike in heat-related deaths.

Around 43,000 people from across the world are currently taking part in the World Scout Jamboree – known as the world’s largest youth camp.

In 2023, the event is being held in North Jeolla province where a heatwave warning is in place, with temperatures hovering at about 35 deg C daily.

There were roughly 400 cases of heat exhaustion on the first night at the campsite, organisers said, adding that people were being treated at a makeshift hospital on the campgrounds.

One Malaysian scout told a South Korean newspaper that the weather was even hotter than in his home country: “It was so hot that I got a migraine,” he said.

Local media reported that scouts from the United States, Britain, Belgium, Bangladesh, Colombia, Poland and Sweden were affected.

South Korea’s government has issued its highest-possible heat warning as temperatures soar this summer, with 21 deaths from heat-related illnesses reported so far, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

That is triple the number of heat-related deaths from 2022, according to Yonhap.

Many of the deaths have occurred in the countryside, with elderly farmers passing out and dying after working outside in the sweltering heat.

In North Korea, the authorities are also ramping up efforts to prepare for a heatwave, with temperatures expected to reach 37 deg C in some parts of the country this week.

The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper advised the elderly to refrain from doing outdoor activities and urged residents to stay hydrated.

“The severe damage that extreme heat can cause to the human body should be correctly perceived,” the newspaper said. AFP