Typhoon Kills Around 100 in South Korea

Emergency teams in South Korea today continued to search for almost 100 people swept away by floods and landslides, as a major clear-up operation began in the wake of the most destructive typhoon the country has witnessed since 1959.

The government said that at least 88 people had been killed by flash flooding and landslides prompted by Typhoon Rusa over the weekend.

Local media reported that up to 187 people had died. The typhoon caused flooding and landslides across the country, destroying key railways and roads.

Rusa was the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea since Sarah in 1959, which left more than 840 people dead or missing.

North Korea reported that the typhoon also caused many deaths and widespread damage to property there. Up to 53cm of rain fell in parts of Kangwon and Hwanhae provinces, North Korea's Central News Agency reported.

"Railways, roads and bridges were completely destroyed in hundreds of places and traffic was cut off in some areas. The typhoon also left scores of people dead, many people missing and injured," the news agency said.

"Thousands of houses, public buildings, irrigation and telephone networks were submerged or destroyed and a large area of farmland went under water or was washed away, making it hard to expect any harvest of crops from there."

Rusa ravaged South Korea with 127mph winds. 89cm of rain fell in eastern and southern South Korea over the weekend, before the weather system moved away from the peninsula yesterday afternoon. It was the highest precipitation since records began in the 1930s.

"This is a hell on earth," said Kim Jung-ok, a 54-year-old housewife in Gangneung in eastern South Korea, as she shovelled mud from her flood-damaged home.

More than 17,000 houses and buildings in the town were submerged, forcing 27,474 residents to take shelter at public buildings and schools.

Floods submerged 5,110 hectares (12,620 acres) of farmland.