At least 130 killed in Korean floods

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. Picture / Reuters

SEOUL, Korea - At least 129 people have died in North and South Korea as a result of flooding and landslides over the last few days, according to officials and a leading international relief agency.

In secretive North Korea, over 100 people died and thousands of people were left homeless, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said, citing reports.

At least 29 people have been killed and another 32 are missing in South Korea after a week of torrential rain, officials said.

In the last four days, a storm dumped more than 50cm of rain in some eastern provinces of South Korea, killing at least 19 people, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

The storm, coming on the back of Typhoon Ewiniar which slammed into the Korean peninsula a few days earlier, washed away parts of highways, flooded subway stations and caused Seoul's Han River to spill over its banks.

Tens of thousands of buildings have lost power and thousands of families have been evacuated from their homes, it said.

Officials estimated the cost of the damage at more than 300 billion won ($490 million) by July 13, adding the final cost would certainly rise.

The Federation said that farmland had been inundated, wiping out much of the coming harvest in the North Korean provinces of Pyongan, North Hwanghe and Kangwon.

"In some remote areas, whole villages have been swept away and essential public services, such as healthcare clinics, have been destroyed," said Jaap Timmer, the Federation's head of delegation in the North Korean capital.

"There has also been widespread damage to roads and bridges, which has left many people displaced or stranded," he added in a statement.

North Korea said in an official media report over the weekend that it been hit hard by the storms.

"Agricultural and other sectors of the national economy and people's living were badly damaged by heavy rains in some areas," its KCNA news agency reported.

- REUTERS