South Korea Wildfires Raze Ancient Temples, Force Evacuations

South Korea’s largest wildfires on record blazed through the country’s southeast for a seventh day, with firefighters, soldiers and heritage workers racing to evacuate people and save ancient treasures from the encroaching flames.At least 37,000 people were evacuated from their homes as the fires, which have left 27 people dead, spread in the dry and windy weather.The fires had burned over 88,000 acres of land, the biggest on record in South Korea, according to the Interior Ministry.

The largest blaze in Euiseong County was only about halfway contained on Thursday.Rescue crews were also focusing on saving as many relics and heritage buildings as possible after two 1,000-year-old Buddhist temples burned to the ground.

Around two dozen buildings, trees, statues and other things with national heritage status have been lost to the flames so far, according to the Korea Heritage Service, the government body responsible for the conservation of national treasures and sites.A statue of a seated Buddha from the early 9th century that was reduced to ashes.And the base and branches of a 400-year-old tree considered the guardian of a local village was charred in the flames.The heritage service said it deployed around 750 people across the region to protect or remove what still remains.

The southeastern region is home to a large proportion of the more than 4,000 items on the country’s national heritage list.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....