SEOUL: South Korean police have launched a probe into a man suspected of accidentally igniting the country’s worst wildfires in history while cleaning his relatives ‘ gravesites, an investigator said on Sunday ( Mar 30 ).
More than a few fires have been fanned by high winds and dry situations, killing 30 people and burning more than 48, 000ha of woodland, the worst of its sort recorded in South Korea, according to the interior ministry.
In North Gyeongsang country’s Uiseong- the hardest-hit area with 12, 800 hectares of its forests affected- a 56-year-old gentleman was suspected of falsely starting a fireplace while tending to his grandparents ‘ gravesites on Mar 22, an official from the municipal police said.
” We booked him without confinement for research… on suspicions of mistakenly starting the fire”, the national, who declined to be named, told AFP.
Authorities will summon him for questioning once the on-site assessment is full, which may take more than a quarter, the official said.
The suspect’s child reportedly told investigators that her father tried to burn trees trees that were hanging over the coffins with a cigarette lighter.
The lights were” carried by the wind and ended up sparking a wildfire”, the girl was quoted as saying to the government, Geographical news agency reported.
The officers, who have withheld the names of both, declined to verify the bill to AFP.
The fires have been fuelled by strong winds and ultra-dry circumstances, with the area experiencing below-average snowfall for weeks, following South Korea’s hottest year on record in 2024.
Among the 30 dying is a helicopter pilot, who died when his plane crashed in a rock hilly region.
The flame even destroyed many historical places, including the Gounsa temple complex in Uiseong, which is believed to have been actually built in the 7th century.
The fire has also laid bare South Korea’s socioeconomic crisis and local disparities, as remote places are both underpopulated and overwhelmingly old.