Residents recount terror of deadly landslides

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Residents recount terror of deadly landslides

Published: 16 Jul. 2023, 18:41 Updated: 16 Jul. 2023, 19:16

An emergency responder and a rescue dog on Sunday search through the rubble in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang, after being devastated by a landslide the day before. The death toll announced by the government in North Gyeongsang was 19, the largest number of people that died over the weekend. [YONHAP]

While the country mourned the death of those trapped in a flooded underpass in North Chungcheong, further tragic events unfolded across the country.

One of the areas hardest hit by the recent heavy downpours was North Gyeongsang.

The government has reported that the death toll in North Gyeongsang has now reached 17 as of Sunday morning.

Two more people were found dead since. This could bring the death toll up to 19.

Among the victims was a 67-year-old man who died trying to save his 25-year-old daughter from a landslide in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang.

“My niece screamed, and my cousin tried to save her,” said 54-year-old Kim. “But they both didn’t make it.”

According to eyewitness accounts, the 67-year-old man was talking to a friend while working on a ditch that had already filled with rainwater and leaves.

The man then rushed home after hearing a thunderous noise caused by a massive landslide falling on his house.

A pile of dirt swamped his daughter’s room, with some stating they heard her scream.

The man tried to open the door to his house without success and in an instant a pile of dirt fell on top of him.

“It all happened in seconds,” a friend, who remained anonymous, said. “My friend couldn’t escape as he tried to save his family.”

Kim Ik-gyeom, a 68-year-old resident of a village in Gimcheon-myeon, Yecheon County in North Gyeongsang, said he did not realize that there could be a “tsunami in a mountain”.

“A huge boulder, trees becoming unrooted and a wave of dirt were falling with a thunderous noise,” Kim said. “It swept through a house at the bottom [of the hill] where a father and his son were sleeping."

The father and son were said to have moved back to the area around eight years ago to work as farmers.

The son reportedly survived with an injured leg but the father has yet to be found.

Other residents of Gimcheon-myeon said they heard thundering noises occur four to five times every minute.

They described the noise as something akin to artillery fire.

Yecheon County is an area that has recorded a staggering number of deaths from the torrential rain since last week.

As of Sunday, nine people were reported dead. However, that figure could rise as some are still missing.

A 67 year-old woman was found at 3:45 p.m. roughly 20 meters from where the house used to stand.

She was swept in the landslide with her husband around 5 a.m. Saturday morning.

The entrance to Beolbang-ri and Jinpyeong-ri in Gimcheon-myeon, where one was found dead and three are still missing, was completely demolished by a landslide.

Some buildings collapsed while a truck was crushed.

The rain first caused a narrow stream to flow through the middle of the village.

“It was no wider than five meters and people were crossing it by stepping on a stone,” said a resident. “Now, it is around 40 meters [131 feet] wide.”

The villagers had to evacuate their homes and are currently staying at the village center or at a church.

A 63-year-old man said he lost his wife after they tried to evacuate to a safe area.

“I told my wife we should quickly evacuate to somewhere safe,” the man only identified as Lee said. “However, she wondered if there were any places other than their home that would be safe.

“Then she couldn’t make it out on time. The landslide took her way while I was watching. In less than a second she disappeared with the building.”

“I couldn’t do anything while it was happening in front of me,” Lee said.

The couple’s friend, 62-year-old Han, who was visiting the neighborhood for the weekend, said he only just survived.

As the rain became heavier he tried to move his car to a safer location. He was then suddenly swept away in the landslide while still in the car.

“The car tumbled several times before it fell into a ditch,” Han said. “Water filled the car and I thought I was going to die.

“Then I saw an opening in the car's rear window,” he said, adding that he only just managed to climb out in time.

The heavy rains also impacted various cultural heritage sites.

One of which was a pagoda in Sincheon-ri in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla.

Part of the two-meter tall stone pagoda, which is a national treasure, broke off.

The wall of an ancestral house in Hwahoe village in Andong, North Gyeongsang, also collapsed.

The Gongsanseong fortress built 1,500 years ago in Gonju, South Chungcheong, was submerged in water with only the roof of the Manharu pavilion staying remaining above the water.

According to the Cultural Heritage Administration, heavy rain since June 23 has damaged 31 cultural heritage sites.

YUN JUNG-MIN, AN DAE-HUN AND LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]