A helicopter deployed to fight against South Korea's 'worst ever' wildfires has crashed in the blaze.
At least 23 people, including the pilot of the chopper, have died in the fires, according to Sky News, after more than 200 structures have been destroyed.
Today (26 March), the Korea Forest Service said the aircraft was operated by one pilot with no crew members.
The wildfires, which began last Friday (21 March), have cut through more than 43,000 acres, a 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple, a number of houses and factories.
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South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the blaze is causing more damage than past wildfires, as 27,000 people have been forced to evacuate.
“Damages are snowballing,” he said during a televised address.
“There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week.”
"Once a wildfire starts, extinguishing it requires tremendous resources and puts precious lives in danger," he added.
Duck-soo noted that 4,650 firefighters, soldiers and other personnel are working to extinguish the wildfires, also with the help of 130 helicopters.
He expects there to be 'a small amount' of 5-10 millimetres of rain tomorrow. In terms of land burned, it's the third most in recent South Korean history.
On Tuesday (25 March), officials said the majority of the flames from the largest wildfires had been extinguished by firefighters.
But due to a strengthening of winds and the dry climate, the blazes would go on to spread again.
The Gounsa temple which was said to be originally built in the 7th century was destroyed, along with two state-designated 'treasures' - a pavilion-shaped structure built in 1668 and a Joseon Dynasty structure built in 1904.
Among the dead are four firefighters and government workers who were killed in Sancheong over the weekend.
Officials think human error may have caused a number of the wildfires after fire had been previously used to clear overgrown grass in family tombs.
Alternatively, parks from the welding work may have contributed to the fires.
This comes after Duck-soo was reinstated as acting president on Monday following an impeachment.
"I believe the people are making it very clear, in one voice, that the extreme confrontation in politics must stop," said Han, who thanked the court for its 'wise decision'.
"As acting president, I will do my best to maintain stable state administration, and devote all wisdom and capabilities to safeguard national interests in the trade war," he added.
Topics: World News, News, Weather, Environment
Anish Vij