Brand broke out again in the southeastern areas of South Korea, death toll

Andong, March 29 (IANS). The fire in the southeastern part of South Korea burst again at night. Firefighters gave this information on Saturday. He said firefighting helicopters were sent to put out the fire. An official at the Gyongbook Fire Service headquarters said that there were reports at about 22:00 on Friday night in Andong, in northern Gyongsang Province, about 190 km southeast of Seoul. Forest officials believe the fire broke out again around 3am on Saturday. The Korea Expressway Corporation closed part of a nearby highway at 05:00 and reopened it before 9am. Vehicles could not reach the hilly areas, so 11 helicopters were called to control the fire. Officials said the fire also broke out in other parts of the province, including Uisong, south of Andong. Regional authorities called 230 firefighters and government officials and 50 soldiers as well as nine fire helicopters to control the fire. In addition, the fire distributed near a transmission tower in Cheongsong County, east of Andong, at about 9pm on Friday night to a nearby mountain. Cheongsong officials have warned residents to be ready for possible power cuts. Nine other helicopters worked over Cheongsong and Yeongyang to put out the fire. Officials in northern Gyongsang said there was a smoke in some parts of the province, but claimed that the fire was not again. Korea Forest Service announced earlier that the fire in North Gyongsang was completely controlled at 17:00 on Friday night and dozens of people were killed or injured and thousands of others were forced to flee. According to the forest agency, approximately 48,000 hectares of forest land in South Korea burned about 48,000 hectares of bush land, which is about 80 percent of the Seoul size. The Yonhap News Agency reported that about 13,000 hectares of this were in Uisong and about 10,000 in Andong. According to official estimates, the fire also damaged 2,996 homes and more than 1,000 agricultural facilities. -Ians psk/abm