Wildfires raging in South Korea doubled in size in a day

Wildfires raging in South Korea doubled in size in a day, as authorities on Thursday called the blazes the country’s worst ever natural fire disaster with at least 26 people killed and historic temples incinerated.

More than 33,000 hectares (81,500 acres) have been charred or were still burning in the largest of the fires, which began in the central Uiseong county, making it the biggest single forest fire in South Korea’s history.

The military has released stocks of aviation fuel to help keep firefighting helicopters flying to douse flames across mountainous regions in the south-east of the country, where fires have been burning now for nearly a week. More than 300 structures had been destroyed, officials said.

As of Thursday morning, authorities were mobilising more than 9,000 people and about 120 helicopters to battle the fires, the government’s disaster response centre said.

The country’s disaster chief said the wildfires were now “the largest on record”, having burned more forest than any previous blazes.