South Korea Says 18 Dead In Raging Wildfires

Members of the Gyeongbuk Seobu Cultural Heritage Care Center wrap a Buddha statue with cotton cloth and a fire-retardant blanket after evacuating all other items from the Gounsa Temple in Uiseong (Credit: AFP)

At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing "unprecedented damage", the acting president said Wednesday.

More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with the death toll jumping overnight as one major fire tore through villages and burned a historical temple to the ground.