Heavy rains mourned the South Korean capital on Monday and Tuesday. Seven people have died and seven are missing in record-breaking floods in Seoul after torrential rain buried subway stations and several streets in the city.
“At least seven people have died in the Seoul metropolitan area, (…) seven others are missing because of heavy rain at 7:30 this morning,” said an official with Seoul’s interior ministry. The torrential rains that began Monday are the heaviest in South Korea in 80 years, according to Yonhap news agency.
Three people drowned in their home
Dramatic footage shared to social media Monday night showed people wading through waist-deep water, overflowing subway stations and half-submerged cars in Seoul’s upscale Gangnam district. According to local media, three people living in a “banjiha” – cramped basement apartments like the one where Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite family lives – including a teenager, died by drowning in their apartment.
President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered government officials to evacuate residents from high-risk areas and encouraged companies to allow their employees flexible working hours Tuesday morning. “Nothing is more precious than life and safety. The government will carefully manage the heavy rain situation,” he wrote on his Facebook account. Daily life in South Korea was still severely disrupted on Tuesday as many roads and tunnels were closed for safety reasons, Yonhap reported.