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| ▲ This photo shows a house in Yeongju, 161 kilometers southeast of Seoul, where a 14-month-old baby girl died on June 30, 2023, after a mudslide engulfed the house on the same day. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by the Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters shows firefighters trying to rescue a 14-month-old baby buried in a mudslide in the southeastern city of Yeongju on June 30, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(2nd LD) mudslide-baby
(2nd LD) 14-month-old dies after mudslide hits house in Yeongju
(ATTN: UPDATES with death, other details; ADDS photo)
YEONGJU, South Korea, June 30 (Yonhap) -- A torrent of soil, apparently loosened by days of heavy rains, crashed into a hillside house in southwestern South Korea on Friday, killing a 14-month-old baby girl buried under earth.
Ten people, including three children, were in the house in Yeongju, 161 kilometers southeast of Seoul, when the mudslide crashed down the roof and wall of the house at 4:43 a.m. All but the baby escaped, and firefighters pulled her out around 7 a.m. after two hours of rescue operations.
The baby was then taken to a hospital in a state of cardiac arrest, but was pronounced dead, police said.
The other nine family members were referred to a senior center nearby after the rescue, and city officials plan to check on their health condition and provide mental counseling.
"The bed the baby was lying in was completely engulfed in a pile of dirt," the baby's father told Yonhap News Agency at a mourning altar set up at a funeral house. "Dirt and water kept pouring into the house, and we really couldn't do anything."
He said it was right after he woke up to the sound of trees breaking and turned the light on that soil crashed into the home.
"I tried to save my wife and child while blocking the crumbling wall with my body," he said.
The wife was saved with the help of other family members, but the baby was not, he said with a choked-up voice.
The tragedy came just one month after the three-generational family had thrown a party celebrating the child's first birthday, according to a neighbor.
The house hit by the mudslide had not seen major damage through typhoons or monsoon while the family lived there for decades, but the victim's family claimed that soil and water started trickling down to their house after a neighboring thatched hut above the hill was torn down a year ago. They had even installed a makeshift plastic tent to prevent the mounds from crossing over.
Neighbors also said there was a similar mudslide accident a few years back, saying the tragedy on Friday was a foreseen event.
About 203 millimeters of rain has fallen in Yeongju from Thursday to Friday afternoon, and the vicinity of where the accident took place recorded 333 mm of rainfall so far.
Forty-three people from 15 households have evacuated from their homes due to fears of mudslides, and five cars were buried at a construction site but dragged out, city officials said.
Traffic was blocked on multiple flooded roads and a small bridge also collapsed due to flooding.
A heavy rain watch was issued in the southeastern city, with reports of over 100 cases of house flooding as of 7 a.m.
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