Donations from the public to aid recovery from the wildfire disaster that struck the Yeongnam region have exceeded 130 billion won.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 12th, as of 5 p.m. the previous day, the amount of donations collected through organizations such as the Disaster Relief Association reached approximately 132.8 billion won.
A farmer is repairing a damaged livestock barn in Imha-myeon, Andong, Gyeongbuk. Photo by Yonhap News
'This amount surpasses the scale of donations collected during the 2022 Gyeongbuk and Gangwon East Coast wildfires (about 83 billion won) and the Sewol ferry disaster (129 billion won). In the case of the Sewol ferry disaster donations, the funds were collected over about four years from April 16, 2014, when the accident occurred, until August 2018.
Currently, 2,199 households and 3,633 disaster victims are staying in temporary shelters, lodging facilities, and relatives' homes. The human toll from this wildfire disaster totals 83 people, including 31 deaths, 9 seriously injured, and 43 with minor injuries.
As of 6 a.m. on the same day, 8,200 locations in Gyeongbuk and a total of 8,457 locations were either completely burned or partially damaged by fire.
The government will conduct a joint central disaster damage survey until the 15th. Based on the survey results, an accurate assessment of the damage scale will be made to establish a recovery plan.
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