By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-31 03:31:16 | Updated at 2025-04-01 20:41:02
1 day ago
A combination of an ageing society and a reliance on temporary workers meant older people were disproportionately on the front lines tackling South Korea’s devastating wildfires this month – and paid a disproportionate price.
While final breakdown of ages has yet to be tallied, authorities said most of the 28 people killed were older people, who make up an above average proportion of people living in rural areas and among the seasonal firefighting force.
Among those killed were three firefighters in their 60s and the 73-year-old pilot of a firefighting helicopter who died in a crash. On Thursday, a 68-year-old temporary wildfire monitor was found dead after he was caught in a fire while trying to return home after days of work battling the blaze.
Some of the fatalities were also elderly people trapped in their homes or others attempting to escape the fire on their own, local media reported. Three residents of a nursing home, all in their 80s, died when their vehicle exploded in the fire, reports said.
About 73 per cent of South Korea’s 9,472 seasonal wildfire fighters are over 60 years old, according to the forest service’s latest data, often the only people available to work such schedules.
