Forest fires Thousands of people were evacuated in South Korea due to a forest fire

Over 6,000 people evacuated in South Korea due to widespread forest fire, says South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The fire has burned nearly 8,600 hectares of land in Uljin and Samcheok. Uljin is located about 330 kilometers from the South Korean capital Seoul.

The fire started at local time on Friday morning. The fire spread due to winds and dry weather. By Saturday morning, about 700 people had already been able to return to their homes.

Fire has destroyed at least 159 homes and 57 other buildings. However, personal injuries have been avoided, at least for the time being, according to Yonhap.

The fire threatened the nuclear power plant, the country’s largest liquefied petroleum gas production complex and transmission lines, Yonhap says. Authorities said the fire department got under control of the fire before it got a worse threat to the infrastructure.

The fire has been extinguished with the help of more than 7,000 fire rescuers, 65 helicopters and more than 500 fire trucks.

Firefighting work also continued on Saturday.