South Korea fires: 18 dead as acting president speaks of ‘unprecedented damage’

A 1,300-year-old Buddhist temple is among buildings destroyed after dry and windy weather saw mostly contained blazes spread again

Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea's worst ever are ravaging southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said on Wednesday.

Han Duck-soo, South Korea's prime minister and acting president, said five days of fires had caused unprecedented damage" and asked agencies tackling the disaster to assume the worst-case scenario and respond accordingly", according to Yonhap news agency.