Live from Yeongyang-gun County: At least 27 dead, 32 injured in wildfires burning across S. Korea

We begin with the latest on the worst wildfires in the southern regions of the country.

For more on the situation on the ground, our reporter Song Yoo-jin joins us now.

Yoo-jin, where are you, and what's the latest from there?

Jung-min, I'm in Yeongyang-gun County in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, in the southern part of the country and one of the hardest-hit areas, where wildfires have been raging for several days now.

The fire originally broke out in this particular region on Saturday in neighboring Uiseong-gun County.

Since then, it has rapidly spread to Yeongyang and other areas nearby, as shown on the map.

This province, Gyeongsangbuk-do, has the highest death toll with 23 lives lost, making it the deadliest of the multiple wildfires currently burning across the country.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the nationwide total stands at 27 dead and 32 injured as of Thursday 4 PM, up one death and two injuries from the morning, which all came from Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.

South Korea is now seeing the highest number of wildfire-related deaths in a single year since records began.

The previous high was 26 deaths, back in 1989.

In terms of scale, the devastation is also historic.

So far, wildfires nationwide have scorched over 3-hundred-60 square kilometers, which is more than half the size of Seoul.

I spoke to some local residents about the fire.

Take a listen.

"I could see the fire up on the mountains three days ago.

The flames came here suddenly because the winds have been strong.

Today, it's less windy, but when it is windy, it feels like the apocalypse."

"It felt like helicopters were dropping fireballs because I could see fires here and then there. So I escaped in my car.

I'm 72 and I've been living here since I was eight. I've never seen a fire like this in my lifetime."

Yoo-jin, what are you learning about efforts to contain the flames? We hear conditions haven't made that easy.

It's been non-stop for thousands of firefighters and rescue personnel working around the clock to control the fires.

But it's been an uphill battle, largely due to extremely dry conditions and strong winds.

Here in Gyeongsangbuk-do, the average containment rate of the five regions shown earlier on the map stood at 63-percent as of 5 PM, up almost 20-percent from our previous newscast.

A few hours ago, Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo newly designated Gyeongsangbuk-do Province's Andong City, Cheongsong, Yeongdeok, and Yeongyang-gun counties as special disaster zones, allowing for a coordinated, pan-ministerial response focused on supporting victims and speeding up recovery efforts.

There had been hope that rain today might help, but so far, the rainfall has been light and sporadic, and with little rain and strong winds in the forecast tomorrow.

At this point, officials and residents are hoping the weather will shift in their favor soon.

For tonight, the government will deploy around 3-thousand-7-hundred firefighting personnel to help increase the containment rate.

That's all I have for this hour.

Back to you, Jung-min.

Thank you Yoo-jin.

Hope you and your team there stay safe.