SEOUL/CHEONGJU, South Korea, July 16 (Reuters) - The bodies of eight people trapped in a tunnel flooded by heavy rain in central South Korea were retrieved on Sunday, authorities said, with the death toll from days of torrential downpours that have pounded the country rising to 37.
Kong Seong-pyo, a 60-year-old Cheongju resident who frequently uses the underpass, said the government should have restricted access to the tunnel when flooding was expected.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety said nine people were missing across the country as of 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) as heavy downpours caused landslides and floods, with evacuation orders covering 8,852 people.
[1/9]Rescue workers are seen near a recovered electric bus during a search and rescue operation near an underpass that has been submerged by a flooded river caused by torrential rain in Cheongju, South Korea, July 16, 2023.
While South Korea often experiences heavy rains in summer, it has witnessed a sharp increase in torrential rains in recent years.
Persons:
Seo Jeong, Seo, Kong, Kim Hong, Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon, Han Duck, Gyun Kim, Daewoung Kim, Hongji Kim, Cheongju, hyang Choi, Diane Craft, Michael Perry, Jamie Freed, Alexandra Hudson
Organizations:
MBC, Reuters, The, of Interior, Safety, REUTERS, Korea Meteorological Administration, Korea Railroad Corp, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson
Locations:
SEOUL, CHEONGJU, South Korea, Cheongju, Seoul, Gangnam, Chungcheong