#SouthKorea #Floods #BBCNews At least 18 people have died in floods and landslides caused by days of torrential rain in South Korea, the country's disaster management office has said.
There are fears the death toll could rise as emergency rescue efforts continue, with 11 people reported missing.
Footage showed people wading through thick mud in the landslide-hit resort town of Gapyeong on Sunday as they made their way across a damaged bridge to evacuation shelters.
Much of the destruction has been in the country's south, with six people killed and seven missing in Sancheong.
Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog
For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news
00:00At least 18 people have died in floods and landslides caused by days of torrential rain in South Korea.
00:06There are fears the death toll could rise as emergency rescue efforts continue,
00:11with many people still unaccounted for.
00:13Thousands of roads and buildings have been damaged.
00:15From the capital Seoul, here's Jake Kwon.
00:20Trapped in a flash flood, a man is moved to safety from a campsite where he was enjoying a summer break.
00:26These torrential heavy rains are said to be a once-in-200-years event.
00:33In the county of Sancheng, where most of the deaths occurred,
00:36the danger is literally meters away as people rush to get out of the town.
00:42After nearly a week of heavy rain, at least 17 people have died across the country and 11 people are still missing.
00:50This village, just 60 miles from the capital, was completely submerged.
00:54Many in rural communities are struggling to protect their livestock.
01:02I stayed up all night in the car. The situation was unbelievable.
01:06When the water gushed towards the house, the cows were trying to step anywhere they could to get a foothold in the floodwater,
01:12stretching their necks up to keep breathing and splashing through water.
01:16It was utter chaos.
01:17On Sunday, after the rain subsided, rescue workers were still clearing the debris with the hope of finding those missing.
01:26Koreans call these monsoon rains summer guests.
01:29They come and break the oppressive heat.
01:31But as global temperatures rise, they're becoming increasingly unpredictable and violent.
01:36Jake Kwon, BBC News, Seoul.
01:39And Jake gave us this update on the rescue operation a little earlier.
01:44Well, the authority here and the rescue workers are really focusing their efforts in recovering or finding the rest of the missing people.
01:51Now, the nine people are still missing.
01:53A lot of them are understood to be under the rubble or under the landslide.
01:58Some of them were swept in the flash flood.
02:00Now, the reason so many people were trapped in this flash flood for the past four days is because this, like many parts in the world, is the peak summer vacation season.
02:10Many people from Seoul, the capital, have taken refuge in the mountains to escape the oppressive heat, which, you know, here rises frequently to in the high 30s.
02:21Many of them were camping or taking refuge in the hotels on the mountainside or the hillside, and they were playing in the water.
02:29So when the flash flood came, a lot of them were trapped, which prompted the rescue workers to install zip lines or try to rescue them using helicopters, as you've seen in the video just before.
02:40Now, in the Ka Pyeong County, that's where it happened.
02:45That was one of the areas that was hard hit, and this is the area closest to Seoul.
02:50Now, in the south, in Sancheon County, this is where most of the deaths occurred.
02:54Ten people died. Four are still considered missing.
02:57This is a mountain village, which was directly hit by a landslide.
03:01Now, 80 percent of South Korea is a mountain, and there's always a risk of landslide whenever this kind of heavy rain comes to this town.
