In South Korea, a helicopter crashed while extinguishing forest fires

The helicopter crashed in Yiseong County in South Korea, where large-scale forest fires are continuing. This was reported by Yonhap on March 26, citing the authorities.

"A fire helicopter with one pilot crashed on Wednesday while fighting a large forest fire in the southeastern county of Uisong, killing the pilot," the material says.

It is specified that the helicopter crashed on a mountain about 180 km southeast of Seoul.

The acting President of Korea, Prime Minister Han Dok-soo, called the fires "the worst in the country's history." As a result of the disaster, 18 people were killed, 13 more were injured, and more than 20,000 residents were evacuated.

146 helicopters and more than 5,000 military personnel are involved in extinguishing the fire. The authorities are considering the possibility that the cause of the fires could be carelessness when handling fire.

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Earlier, on March 23, it was reported that forest fires broke out in Ehime and Okayama prefectures in Japan. An evacuation order was issued for 381 people.