Heaviest rainfall in 80 years kills at least 7 in South Korea

Seoul, Aug 9 (EFE).- The heaviest rainfall in 80 years has left at least seven people dead and six missing in Seoul and surrounding regions, as well as flooding homes, buildings and subway stations and submerging vehicles, local authorities said Tuesday.

Parts of southern Seoul, the port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi province, which surrounds the capital, received more than 100 millimeters of rain per hour overnight Monday, with more than 141 millimeters in the south Seoul district of Dongjak, in the heaviest downpours since 1942.

Five people died and four were missing in Seoul, while two were dead and two missing in Gyeonggi, the government said, according to Yonhap news agency.

In the capital’s Gwanak district, a 13-year-old and two adults in their 40s died after becoming trapped in a flooded semi-basement level home, it said.

In Dongjak, a person in their 60s was thought to have been electrocuted while clearing trees that had fallen in the storm, and another person died after their house flooded.

In Gyeonggi, a person was found dead under a collapsed bus stop, and another died due to a landslide, Yonhap said.

Four people went missing in Seoul’s Seocho district – some in an underground shopping area and others down a manhole, while two others in Gyeonggi’s Gwangju city were swept away by floodwaters.

Public transport was also stopped during the night Monday when several stations and roads were flooded, although the services returned Tuesday morning.

The South Korean Meteorological Agency (KMA) also forecasts rain for Tuesday, although less than 10 millimeters per hour. EFE

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