SEOUL, South Korea: Rescuers working to reach vehicles trapped in a flooded tunnel near the Cheongiu in South Korea have recovered nine bodies.
Flood water after days of torrential rain poured into the underpass so rapidly that drivers and passengers were trapped in their cars and couldn’t getaway.
At least thirty-seven people have died in flooding, landslides and power cuts across much of South Korea, while nine people are still missing, according to BBC.
It is unclear how many individuals are still trapped in the 685-metre long tunnel Osong town, but fifteen cars are thought to be submerged.
Several of the bodies were recovered from a bus. Emergency workers rescued nine people on Saturday.
Most of the other deaths were recorded in North Gyeongsang, where landslides destroyed houses.
Almost 300mm of rain is reported to have fallen across the country on Saturday.
Rains in South Korea
The country typically records 1,000mm of rain to 1,800mm a year, according to the Korean Meteorological Association (KMA) – although much of that rain does fall during the summer months.
Thousands of people have been hit by evacuation orders issued by different local governments and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has instructed the military to help with the rescue efforts.
Early on Saturday morning, about 6,400 residents were evacuated after the Goesan Dam, North Chungcheong, started to overflow, According to agency.
Multiple low-lying villages in the vicinty of dam and many of the roads in the area were submerged, leaving several people trapped in their homes.
Late on Friday, a landslide caused a train to derail in the city. One engineer was wounded, but there were no passengers in the train at the time.
South Korea’s national rail operator Korail has announced the suspension of all slow and some bullet trains, and said other bullet services would also be disrupted.
The KMA forecasted more rainfall through to Wednesday next week. It warned that the weather conditions pose a serious danger.
