[Anchor]

Overnight, extreme downpours exceeding 100 millimeters per hour battered Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, triggering a landslide that struck an apartment complex. The incident left one resident dead and two others with minor injuries. Fire authorities have issued a national fire mobilization order for Geoje to manage the disaster response.

Reporter Cho Min-ki has the details.

[Reporter]

This morning (August 17), at an apartment complex in Okpo-dong, Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.

The safety fence was bent and collapsed completely under the weight of a landslide, while cascading mud, soil, and trees engulfed the first floor of the apartment building.

As a result of the accident, a resident buried on the first floor was rescued in a state of cardiac arrest and transported to a hospital, but ultimately passed away.

Police and fire authorities additionally rescued two other residents from the first floor.

Geoje has recorded over 800 millimeters of rainfall since the day before yesterday. Particularly during the night, extreme torrential downpours exceeding 100 millimeters per hour battered the region, causing a continuous series of flooding and isolation incidents.

Overflowing rivers and inundation led to the closure of nine roads, while landslides occurred at 11 locations.

Successive power outages caused inconvenience for 1,500 households.

A total of 107 residents evacuated to local community centers and other facilities, and 60 of them have yet to return home.

Having issued a national fire mobilization order this morning, fire authorities have received more than 1,600 reports related to the torrential rains in Geoje alone and rescued 126 people.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters held a meeting presided over by Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung, deciding to provide an emergency allocation of 3 billion won in special local grants and 40 million won in disaster relief project funds to affected regions including South Gyeongsang and South Jeolla provinces.

In Geoje, which is currently the only area nationwide under a heavy rain warning, strong rain is forecasted to continue falling at around 30 millimeters per hour into the afternoon.

(Photo courtesy of Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters)