Wildfires also burned large areas in other regions of South Korea.
More than 80 helicopters started flying at daybreak on Friday to dump water, the safety ministry said. South Korea relies on helicopters to fight forest fires because of its mountainous terrain. A helicopter pilot died on Wednesday after crashing while trying to tackle a blaze.
Experts have said the Uiseong fire showed extremely unusual spread in terms of its scale and speed, and that climate change is expected to make wildfires more frequent and deadly globally.
The wildfires have displaced more than 30,000 residents, many of whom are elderly, and ravaged everything in their path, including historic temples and homes, in the mountainous forest regions of North Gyeongsang province.
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