S Korea: Scores dead as heavy rains and landslides hit Seoul

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S Korea: Scores dead as heavy rains and landslides hit Seoul

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The damage bill is expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

30 July,2011 05:13 am

At least 60 people are dead or missing after landslides and flashfloods, caused by the heaviest rains in a century, hit the Seoul region, home to about 25 million people.Some 19.5 inches of rain has fallen in the Seoul region since late Tuesday, the weather bureau said, in the heaviest July deluge since 1907.More rain battered mountainous regions of the country, prompting authorities to draft in the military to help with rescue and clean-up operations.Landslides were reported around the capital where streams turned into raging torrents, flooding low-lying areas and swamping thousands of cars.Some bridges over the main Han River, which runs through the centre of the city, were closed. Train services were also disrupted.Authorities said more than 4,500 people had been forced out of their homes and many houses were without power.In the worst single accident, a mudslide smashed into three small hotels in the mountain resort of Chuncheon, about 100 km east of Seoul, killing 13 people.Power outages hit Seoul again, including a cut in a business district, but the financial services industry and market trading were not affected.The Financial Supervisory Service, the countrys financial regulator, estimated the bill for car damages alone at about $25 million.