South Korea wildfires cause 'heritage disaster crisis': UNESCO village evacuated, century-old temples damaged
Wildfires damaged 1,000-year-old Gounsa Temple only few historical items, like the seated stone Buddha, were saved. Plus residents of the 600-year-old Unesco World Heritage site Andong Hahoe village were evacuated.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] March 27: At least 26 people have already died in the fires that are spreading across the southeast, and more than 28,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. South Korea is facing one of its worst wildfire crises in the past few decades. Huge fires are destroying national treasures and hundreds of buildings, including an old temple.
The temple, which had items that were considered national gems, was one of the most recent cultural sites to be destroyed by the terrible fire. A significant portion of the hundreds-year-old Gounsa Temple has been burned down by flames in the town of Uiseong in the southeast of South Korea.
As the fire spread quickly, South Korea issued a heritage disaster crisis alert at the greatest "serious" level across the whole country for the first time on Tuesday. This made the government rush to save the country's treasures. As firefighters rushed to put out flames that were getting worse, people were evacuated from the 600-year-old Andong Hahoe folk village, which is a Unesco World Heritage site,
On Wednesday, the Korea Heritage Service moved twelve historic objects, including Buddha paintings and wooden printing blocks, from two North Gyeongsang Province temples: Bongjeongsa in Andong and Buseoksa in Yeongju.
A sitting stone Buddha statue from the now-destroyed Gounsa Temple in Uiseong was one of the 10 national treasures that were moved. Yonhap news agency reported that five physical cultural heritage things were also moved to protect them from the spreading fire.
South Korea is dealing with what officials describe the worst wildfire disaster in the country's history, with blazes that started five days ago and have left a trail of damage. The Interior Ministry says the fires have destroyed more than 300 buildings, such as homes, factories, and vehicles, and have burned about 88,000 acres of land. They have also caused the loss of life and cultural property.
This was the first time that the Korea Heritage Service raised the national heritage disaster crisis alert to "serious." This happened because flames in Uiseong were "out of control." Because of this title, local governments had to send more people to help with emergency situations.
A service member told a local news source, “The risk of fire damage to national heritage due to the large forest fires in Uiseong County and Andong City, as well as simultaneous forest fires occurring nationwide, is very high.” The national weather service said that the affected places would get light rain by the end of the week, but officials are still not sure if that will be enough to help.
Written by: Anamika Dubey
What's Your Reaction?
