SOUTH Korean police announced on Sunday that they have booked a man suspected of igniting the country’s largest wildfire, which claimed at least 26 lives and destroyed thousands of buildings, including historic temples.
An official of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police, believes the man, who is in his 50s, started the fire in southeastern Uiseong County while performing an ancestral rite at a family grave on March 22.
“We are in the process of verifying evidence,” the official added.
The ICIR reported that the fires began on March 21, consuming approximately 48,000 hectares (119,000 acres), destroyed around 4,000 structures, and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
The conflagrations prompted mass evacuations and led to the deployment of thousands of personnel and over 100 helicopters to contain the blazes.
By Friday, the blaze was largely contained, though firefighters continued to battle small hotspots that flared up on Saturday.
The Uiseong fire, along with separate blazes across the country last week, claimed at least 30 lives and fueled calls for national reforms to improve disaster response.
The forest service announced on Sunday that another wildfire had erupted in a southern area near Suncheon-si, prompting authorities to deploy 23 firetrucks, four helicopters, and 123 firefighters.
However, according to Yonhap News Agency, the man has denied the allegations.
The fires follow a similar incident in Los Angeles, United States, earlier in January this year.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.