South Korea continues search for those missing in torrential rain

By: 2 years ago

A manhole with its cover missing due to heavy rain in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. | YONHAP via The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

SEOUL — The search for those missing due to Monday’s record-breaking downpour in Seoul and its surrounding areas continues, with seven people still unaccounted for as of 6 a.m. Wednesday. Nine have been confirmed dead, and hundreds remain displaced.

Four of the seven missing were lost in Seoul’s Seocho-gu district, including a brother and sister, who are reported to have been swept into a manhole.

The missing pair were reportedly swept into the sewers when a manhole lid suddenly opened due to a countercurrent.

One missing person disappeared after being swept away by rapid currents while checking on his vehicle in an underground parking lot. A witness reported the incident immediately, and the fire department began searching at 11 p.m. Monday, but he is yet to be found. Another man went missing in a similar way near another underground parking lot.

Three people are reported missing from Gyeonggi Province. In Gwangju, two people were swept away by a flooded river, and in Namyangju, a teenager disappeared on her way home, swept away by a rapid stream.

Nine people in Seoul and surrounding areas died from house flooding, electrocutions, landslides, and a bus station collapse.

Four victims drowned in two semi-basement homes in Seoul, including a family of three in one and a middle-aged woman in another.

The authorities said that casualties from the downpour could rise as the clean-up of affected areas continue.

In addition, 570 people from 398 households were forced to leave their homes due to flooding, while 1,253 people from 724 households have temporarily evacuated.

Heavy rain warnings in Seoul and the metropolitan area were lifted Wednesday morning, with rain clouds moving southward toward North and South Chungcheong Provinces, southern Gangwon Province and North Gyeongsang Province.