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| ▲ A firefighting helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 29, 2025. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Smoke rises from a mountain in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 29, 2025. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) wildfire-reignition
(LEAD) Wildfires reignited in southeast areas overnight: officials
(ATTN: UPDATES with latest info throughout)
ANDONG, South Korea, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Wildfires reignited in the southeastern part of the country overnight, fire authorities said Saturday, adding firefighting helicopters were dispatched to extinguish them.
An official with Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters said reports of smoke in Andong, some 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul in North Gyeongsang Province, had started coming in at around 10 p.m. Friday night. Forestry officials believe the fire reignited around 3 a.m. Saturday.
The Korea Expressway Corp. blocked off a section of a nearby highway at 5 a.m. and reopened it just before 9 a.m. With vehicles unable to reach the mountainous areas, 11 helicopters were called in to contain the fire.
Officials said fires had also restarted in other parts of the province, including Euiseong, just south of Andong.
Regional officials called in nine firefighting helicopters, along with 230 firefighters and public servants and 50 soldiers, to contain the fires.
Separately, a fire that started near a transmission tower around 9 p.m. Friday in the county of Cheongsong, east of Andong, spread to an adjacent mountain. Cheongsong officials warned residents to brace for a possible power outage.
Nine other helicopters were in operation over Cheongsong and Yeongyang to put out embers. North Gyeongsang officials said plumes of smoke were rising in some parts of the province but claimed fires had not restarted. The province plans to send in 30 helicopters Saturday.
The Korea Forest Service earlier announced wildfires in North Gyeongsang had been fully brought under control as of 5 p.m. Friday after killing or injuring dozens of people and forcing thousands of others to flee.
About 48,000 hectares of woodland, equivalent to some 80 percent of the size of Seoul, have been scorched in the worst wildfire disaster ever in South Korea, according to the forestry agency.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the fires had claimed 29 lives and left 41 others injured as of 6 a.m. Saturday. It said 6,885 people from 4,193 households had yet to return home since evacuating.
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