South Korea struggles to contain wildfires that have killed 28

CHEONGSONG, South Korea (AP) — Helicopters dumped water over a burning forest in South Korea on Thursday as fire crews struggled to contain the country's worst-ever wildfires, which have killed 28 people, forced at least 37,800 to flee their homes and destroyed thousands of structures and vehicles.

Multiple wildfires fueled by strong winds and dry weather have been raging across South Korea's southeastern regions since last Friday. The government has mobilized thousands of personnel, dozens of helicopters and other equipment to extinguish the blazes, but gusty winds are hampering their efforts.

Rain was expected later Thursday. But Korea Forest Service chief Lim Sang-seop said the amount — less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) is forecast — likely won't help much in extinguishing the wildfires.

The fatalities include a pilot whose helicopter crashed during efforts to contain a fire Wednesday and four firefighters and other workers who died earlier after being trapped by fast-moving flames.

Authorities haven't disclosed details of the civilian dead, except that they are mostly in their 60s or older who found it difficult to escape quickly or who even refused orders to evacuate. They suspect human error caused several of the wildfires, including cases where people started fires while clearing overgrown grass from family tombs or with sparks during welding work.

Lee Han-kyung, deputy head of the government's disaster response center, told a meeting Thursday that the wildfires showed “the reality of climate crisis that we have yet experienced,” according to Yonhap news agency. Calls to his center were unanswered.

Scientists say the warming atmosphere around the world is driving ever more extreme weather events, including wildfires, flooding, droughts, hurricanes and heat waves that are killing people and causing billions of dollars in damage every year.

The wildfires have burned 38,665 hectares (95,543 acres) of land, the disaster response center said Thursday. Observers say that's the worst figure of its kind in South Korea. The center said the blazes have also injured 32 people and forced more than 37,800 people to evacuate. More than 2,600 structures, including homes, factories and other buildings, as well as vehicles, were damaged or destroyed.

As of Thursday morning, the center said authorities were mobilizing more than 9,000 people and about 120 helicopters to battle the wildfires.

In Cheongsong, one of the fire-hit areas, thick plumes of smoke were bellowing from Juwang Mountain on Thursday morning. Helicopters repeatedly hovered over the mountain, dropping water. The amount of smoke later appeared to have diminished.

At a Buddhist temple near the mountain, workers covered a stone pagoda and other structures with fire-resistant materials, while firefighters poured water on sites near the temple.

The hardest-hit areas include Andong city and the neighboring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan.

On Wednesday night, strong winds and smoke-filled skies forced authorities in the southeastern city of Andong to order evacuations in two villages, including Puncheon, home to the Hahoe folk village — a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded around the 14th-15th century. Hikers were advised to leave the scenic Jiri Mountain as another fire spread closer.

The fires in the past week have destroyed houses, factories and some historic structures. In Uiseong, about 20 of the 30 structures at the Gounsa temple complex, which was said to be originally built in the 7th century, have burned. Among them were two state-designated “treasures” — a pavilion-shaped building erected overlooking a stream in 1668, and a Joseon dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.

The Korea Forest Service wildfire warning is at its highest level, requiring local governments to assign more workers to emergency response, tighten entry restrictions for forests and parks, and recommend that military units withhold live-fire exercises.

Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press photographer Ahn Young-joon in Cheongsong, South Korea, contributed to this report.

South Korean army soldiers work to prevent the further spread of wildfires in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers work to prevent the further spread of wildfires in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers work to prevent the further spread of wildfires in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army soldiers work to prevent the further spread of wildfires in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A burnt-out houses in a destroyed village are seen in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kim Do-hun/Yonhap via AP)

A burnt-out houses and warehouses in a destroyed village are seen in Andong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kim Do-hun/Yonhap via AP)

A burnt-out houses and warehouses in a destroyed village are seen in Andong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kim Do-hun/Yonhap via AP)

South Korean soldiers arrive to prevent the further spread of wildfires in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Yoon Kwan-shik/Yonhap via AP)

Escaped villagers from wildfires rest at a shelter in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Burnt-out houses are seen at a damaged village due to wildfires in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Residents watch their burnt-out houses at a damaged village due to wildfires in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean soldiers work to prevent the further spread of wildfires in Uiseong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Yoon Kwan-shik/Yonhap via AP)

A helicopter dumps water on a mountain after a wildfire broke out in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Buddhist temple and pagoda are covered by flameproof materials to prevent them from damage from wildfire at Daejeon temple in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kim Do-hun/Yonhap via AP)

A helicopter tries to extinguish a wildfire by dropping water at a national park in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Lee Moo-yeol/Newsis via AP)

Workers cover temples with fireproof fabric in preparation for a possible approaching wildfire at a temple in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Smoke rises from a wildfire at a national park in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Lee Moo-yeol/Newsis via AP)

A firefighter vehicle sprays water in preparation for a possible approaching wildfire at a temple in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A burnt-out house in a destroyed village is seen in Cheongsong, South Korea, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (Kim Do-hun/Yonhap via AP)

Houses burn in a village after being engulfed by a wildfire fueled by strong winds in Uiseong, South Korea, Monday, March 24, 2025. (Yoon Gwan-shick/Yonhap via AP)

A burnt-out fishing boat is seen at a damaged port due to wildfires in Yeongdeok, South Korea, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Yun Kwan-shik/Yonhap via AP)

A bell is seen broken at the remains of the bell pavilion due to wildfires at Gounsa Temple in Uiseong, South Korea, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via AP)

The remains of burnt-out pavilions due to wildfires are seen at the Gounsa temple in Uiseong, South Korea, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via AP)

Pavilions are seen at the Gounsa temple in Uiseong, South Korea, Feb. 11, 2025. (Baek Seung-reol/Yonhap via AP)

Burnt-out houses are seen at a damaged village due to wildfires in Yeongdeok, South Korea, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Yun Kwan-shik/Yonhap via AP)

Burnt-out houses are seen at a damaged village due to wildfires in Yeongdeok, South Korea, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Yun Kwan-shik/Yonhap via AP)

A person walks past houses destroyed by wildfires at a village in Yeongyang, South Korea, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Yun Kwan-shik/Yonhap via AP)

BANGKOK (AP) — Emergency rescue teams on Sunday began trickling into the area of Myanmar hardest hit by a massive earthquake that killed more than 1,600 people, their efforts hindered by buckled roads, downed bridges, spotty communications and the challenges of operating in a country in the midst of a civil war.

The 7.7 magnitude quake hit midday Friday with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, bringing down scores of buildings and damaging other infrastructure like the city's airport.

Many of Mandalay's 1.5 million people spent the night sleeping on the streets, either left homeless by the quake, which also shook neighboring Thailand and killed at least 17 people there, or worried that the continuing aftershocks might cause structures left unstable to collapse.

So far 1,644 people have been reported killed in Myanmar and 3,408 missing, but many areas have not yet been reached, and many rescue efforts so far have been undertaken by people working by hand to try and clear rubble, said Cara Bragg, the Yangon-based manager of Catholic Relief Services in Myanmar.

“It's mainly been local volunteers, local people who are just trying to find their loved ones,” Bragg said after bring briefed by her colleague in Mandalay.

“I've also seen reports that now some countries are sending search and rescue teams up to Mandalay to support the efforts, but hospitals are really struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, there's a shortage of medical supplies, and people are struggling to find food and clean water,” Bragg added.

The organization was sending a team by road on Sunday to assess peoples' most pressing needs so that it could target its own response.

With the Mandalay airport damaged and the control tower toppled in the capital Naypitaw's airport, all commercial flights into the cities have been shut down.

Still, two Indian C-17 military transport aircraft were able to land late Saturday at Naypitaw with a field hospital unit and some 120 personnel who were then to travel north to Mandalay to establish a 60-bed emergency treatment center, according to the country's Foreign Ministry. Other Indian supplies were flown into Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, which has been the hub of other foreign relief efforts.

On Sunday, a convoy of 17 Chinese cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies was expected to reach Mandalay, after making the arduous journey by road from Yangon.

The 650-kilometer (400-mile) journey has been taking 14 hours or longer, with clogged roads and traffic diverted from the main highway to skirt damage from the earthquake.

At the same time, the window of opportunity to find anyone alive is rapidly closing. Most rescues occur within the first 24 hours after a disaster, and then survival chances drop as each day passes.

An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued Saturday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”

China said it has sent more than 135 rescue personnel and experts along with supplies like medical kits and generators, and pledged around $13.8 million in emergency aid. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said it had flown in 120 rescuers and supplies to Yangon, and the country’s Health Ministry said Moscow had sent a medical team to Myanmar.

In neighboring Thailand, the quake rocked much of the county, bringing down a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away from the epicenter.

So far, 10 people have been found dead at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market, where 83 people are unaccounted for and the latest body was recovered from the rubble early Sunday morning. A total of 17 people have been reported killed by the quake in Thailand so far.

In Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, rescue efforts so far are focused on Mandalay and Naypyitaw, which are thought to have been the hardest hit, but many other areas were also impacted and little is known so far about the damage there.

“We're hearing reports of hundreds of people trapped in different areas,” said Bragg. “Right now we're at 1,600 (known fatalities) and we don't have a lot of data coming out but you've got to assume it will be increasing in the thousands based on what the impacts are. This is just anecdotal information at this point.”

Beyond the earthquake damage, rescue efforts are complicated by the bloody civil war roiling much of the country, including in quake-affected areas. In 2001, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.

Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.

The government military has been fighting long-established militias and newly formed pro-democracy People's Defense Forces, and has heavily restricted much-needed aid efforts to the large population already displaced by war even before the earthquake.

On Saturday, Myanmar’s opposition shadow National Unity Government, to which the PDF militias are loyal, announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.

The military did not immediately comment on the announcement and it continued airstrikes even after the earthquake.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance, a group of three of Myanmar's most powerful and well-armed militias that launched a combined offensive in October 2023 that broke a strategic stalemate with the military regime, didn't mention a ceasefire in a statement Saturday, but said it was ready to help.

“We will promptly provide assistance to those affected by the earthquake to the best of our ability, with a spirit of humanity, unit and brotherhood,” the group said.

Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this story.

A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Relatives of victims wait as rescuers work at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday morning, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

A person watches rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

people watch rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Women cry as they wait for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers works look for the survivors at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A woman reacts after being informed that her husband had died at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)