South Korea declares the state of national catastrophe after confirming at least four dead in a wave of fires

The South Korean government has declared the state of national catastrophe for the wave of fires that is razing the southeast of the country and has already left At least four dead.

The Interior Ministry has confirmed the entry into force of the crisis situation in the provinces of Gyeongsang del Norte and Gyeongsang del Sur starting at 6:00 p.m.local time (10.00, time in Peninsular and Balearic Islands).

The city of Ulsan, home of more than one million people, is particularly threatened by the flames. The deceased are two civilians and two firefighters found lifeless in Sancheong County. Six other people have been injured.

In general terms, the forest service of Korea has declared a total of 16 fires distributed throughout the country and fed by strong winds.

Some of them, such as the declared in Uiseong, province of Gyeongsang del Norte, is barely contained at 4% and has already burned about 300 hectaresaccording to data collected by the official South Korean news agency Yonhap.