8 dead, 4 missing in storms in south

At least eight people were killed and four were missing after torrential rains hit southern parts of South Korea over the weekend, emergency officials said Sunday.

Since Friday, as much as 40 centimeters of rain has fallen in South Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces, leaving tens of thousands of hectares of farmland submerged and nearly 90 homes flooded.

On Sunday, two old women, aged 92 and 86, were killed in a mountain hermitage near Boseong, 397 kilometers southwest of Seoul, hit by a rain-triggered landslide.

A 68-year-old woman and two of her grandchildren were killed on Saturday when a landslide destroyed their home in Miryang, a city 386 km southeast of Seoul.

Authorities also said a 72-year-old woman was found dead near the destroyed house, after being swept away in the floods.

In Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province, a 73-year-old woman was found dead, apparently a victim of a flash flood, and emergency crews are trying to find another elderly woman in the same region.

Also on Saturday, a 20-year-old man drowned in a stream near Cheongwon, some 120 km south of Seoul.

Authorities asked people in the central and upper parts of the country to remain on alert as the rain is moving northward. (Yonhap News)