South Korea Landslide Kills One Amid Torrential Rain

Torrential rains pounded South Korea's Gyeongsang province, triggering a landslide that killed one person and wounded two others in the southeastern city of Geoje on Monday morning.

The landslide buried the first floor of an apartment building, and rescuers pulled out three people, one of whom was later declared dead. Geoje received more than 400mm of rain overnight between Sunday and Monday, with one hour seeing 124.5mm, the highest since records began in 1972. Over the weekend through Monday morning, Geoje recorded 805.7 mm of rain, while Tongyeong received 671.9 mm.

Heavy rain warnings were in effect for Geoje and Tongyeong as of Monday morning. Downpours battered Geoje, triggering the landslide in a neighborhood at 4:42 a.m. Monday that struck an apartment building. Firefighters received more than 20 calls overnight from residents seeking help for rain-related accidents. Heavy rain also caused streams to overflow, flooding roads and triggering a separate landslide that struck a house, though no casualties were reported in that incident.

City authorities had urged residents to avoid driving and stay away from riverbanks on Sunday. Some tourist attractions, bus operations, and household waste collection were suspended due to flooded or damaged roads. Forecasters attribute the intense rainfall to a strong El Niño that began in June, which pushes up global temperatures and increases typhoon strength. This follows unprecedented rainfall in Japan's Chiba prefecture late last week, which left 10 people dead and stranded thousands.