South Korea Wildfires Kill 24, Destroy 'National Treasure' Temple

Wildfires in South Korea have killed at least 24 people, displaced 28,800 others, and destroyed communities and buildings, including an ancient Buddhist temple. The fires are the deadliest in the Asian country’s history. Many of them remained uncontained as of Thursday. 

Acting President Han Duck-soo called the fires “unprecedented.” He said they are “rewriting the record books for the worst wildfires in our nation's history.” More than 68 square miles across seven counties have been burned. Many of the victims have been elderly people unable to leave their homes.

"Both the upstairs and next door houses were burned down,” a resident of Uiseong County told the BBC. “This area is full of grandparents. They have lived here their whole lives, and when their houses burn down, they have nowhere to go."

At least 5,000 firefighters were joined on the front lines by US troops to combat six blazes. The fires have grown rapidly in high, swirling winds. Smoke from the fires has reached as far as the capital city of Seoul, at least 150 miles away.  

More than 300 buildings have been consumed by the fires. Among them: 20 of the 30 structures that make up the ancient Buddhist temple of Gounsa. It was built in 681 CE and developed over hundreds of years. A number of Gounsa’s destroyed buildings were designated as cultural treasures by the Korean government.

“I went there this morning and found they’ve been reduced to heaps of ashes,” Doryun, a senior monk who had lived at the temple for more than three years, told The Associated Press. “I feel really empty. Life is transient.”  

Reflect: What are some of the ways that communities can come together to help each other during times of crisis or loss?

Photo of a house surrounded by wildfire in Uiseong, South Korea, from Reuters.