SEOUL: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday (Jul 17) blamed authorities' failure to follow disaster response rules as the death toll from days of torrential rain grew to 39, including a dozen people found dead in a submerged underpass.
The rains have pummelled the country's central and southern regions since Thursday as the rainy season that started in late June reaches its peak. The interior ministry has also reported nine people missing and 34 injured across the nation.
Twelve deaths, including three bodies retrieved overnight, occurred in a tunnel in the central city of Cheongju, where 16 vehicles, including a bus, were swamped by a flash flood on Saturday after a river levee collapsed. Nine others were hurt.
The incident fuelled questions over South Korea's efforts to prevent and respond to flood damage. Some drivers who use the road regularly blamed the government for failing to ban access to the underpass even though floods were widely forecast.
According to Yonhap, South Korean police said they would launch an investigation into the fatal flooding of the underpass in Cheongju.
Floods have claimed dozens of lives during recent rainy seasons as weather patterns have become more extreme.
Yoon, just back from an overseas trip, on Monday convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and said the situation was made worse because of poor management of vulnerable areas.
"We've repeatedly emphasised access control over dangerous areas and preemptive evacuation since last year, but if basic principles of disaster response are not kept on the spot, it is difficult to ensure public safety," Yoon told the meeting.
He called for authorities to make the utmost effort to rescue victims and vowed support for recovery work and affected families, including designating flood-hit areas as special disaster zones.
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2023-07-17 03:19:00Z
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