NZ scouts leave South Korea Jamboree early after heatwave and storms threaten camp

Attendees of the World Scout Jamboree cool off in Buan, South Korea: Scouts are decamping early after more than 100 were treated for heat-related ailments. Photo / Kim-yeol, Newsis via AP

Dozens of New Zealanders are leaving the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea after a heatwave left hundreds of people with heat stroke.

More than 40,000 scouts from over 150 countries have been at the jamboree in the country’s southwestern Jeolla province.

On Monday, Jamboree organisers decided to evacuate the whole site because a typhoon was on the way.

Scouts Aotearoa chief executive Chris Wilson said his organisation made the call early due to challenges with managing the heatwave.

The New Zealand contingent of 67 scouts and 25 adults were leaving the site on Tuesday for Tongin, about an hour from the capital Seoul.

Wilson said the rest of their tour of South Korea would continue.

Gavin Jolly said his daughter Saoirse, who is at the jamboree, called him last night and said she had been enjoying the event.

“She was quite happy, she was walking off to the Irish contingent to have dinner with them last night on the eve of leaving the main campsite.”

Saoirse was disappointed to be leaving early but had had a ball and absolutely loved it, Jolly said.

“She didn’t seem too worried about the heat, the New Zealand contingent seems to have planned really well for it and she was really happy with all the ice they were handing out and just keeping themselves wet to let the evaporation cool them down.”

Jolly said he had heard they had brought in some more toilets and cleaners and improved the food.

But he had not heard of any complaints via the communication channels that were set up before the group left, he said.

It had been a good experience for his daughter, he said.

Tents swelter at the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea, Friday. Photo / Choe Young-soo, Yonhap via AP

“She’s got people she can visit now in the Netherlands, in Ireland, in Peru and Brazil, Sweden. She’s made friends with a whole lot of people from all over the world.”

This weekend the world scouting movement urged South Korea to end the annual camping trip early, reported AP.

Hundreds of participants have been treated for heat-related ailments since the Jamboree began Wednesday at the site in the coastal town of Buan as South Korea grapples with one of its hottest summers in years.

The World Organisation of the Scout Movement said it asked South Korean organisers to “consider alternative options to end the event earlier than scheduled and support the participants until they depart for their home countries.”

“We continue to call on the host and the Korean government to honour their commitments to mobilise additional financial and human resources, and to make the health and safety of the participants their top priority,” it said.

The statement came after the UK Scout Association announced it was pulling out more than 4,000 British Scouts from the Jamboree and moving them into hotels over the weekend.

Last week, South Korea raised its hot weather warning to the highest level for the first time in four years, and temperatures around the country hovered between 35 and 38 degrees Celsius on Friday. According to South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety, at least 19 people have died from heat-related illnesses across the country since May 20.

About 40,000 scouts, mostly teenagers, from 158 countries came to the Jamboree at a campsite built on land reclaimed from the sea.

- With additional AP reporting