Flood strikes Sancheong after fire

[Anchor]

The situation is even more heartbreaking in Sancheong, Gyeongnam Province.

The region was still recovering from a devastating forest fire last spring, but now, heavy rain has caused ten deaths and left four people missing, making it the are with the worst damage.

Not only has there been tragic loss of lives, but not a single road or house remains intact.

Reporter Park Gi-won has the details.

[Report]

The mountaintop looks as if it has been scraped with a rake, and the houses below are crumpled like paper.

The uprooted trees and massive boulders that struck the houses show the sheer force of the landslide.

This used to be the site of a two-story building.

Swept away by debris, there is now no trace of it left.

Three people lost their lives here before they could even react to the incoming debris.

[Jung Gi-ho/Resident: "We rebuilt the waterway with my sister-in-law who passed away, so the water wouldn’t flow into the restaurant. As we were coming down, we were just about here when 'bang!' it all got swept away."]

This once densely packed village of country homes has turned into a wasteland.

Debris has piled up to the height of the roofs, and the entrances are completely blocked.

A car parked in front of this house was pushed several meters by the force of the debris.

[Go In-ho/Resident: "Right now, there is this much dirt piled up inside the house. I was sleeping over there. If the landslide had happened at night, I would have died."]

With electricity and communication cut off and the access roads blocked, it feels like a dream for the survivors to have escaped safely.

[Lee Mi-jeong/Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam: "Communication was cut off, and all the exits were just collapsed by the landslide, so we were isolated until 5 PM..."]

In Sancheong, where half a year's worth of rain fell in just four days, 14 people have died or gone missing.

[Kim Jong-soo/Resident: "Rescue workers came up to save us, but there was so much water flowing down, and rocks rolling with it, that they couldn't come up...."]

The residents of Sancheong, still recovering from the large forest fire last spring, are now having to deal with flood damages before they’ve even had a chance to heal.

This is KBS News, Park Gi-won.