At least one dead in Geoje landslide as floods paralyze city

At least one person is dead after a landslide sent a wall of mud and rock into a Geoje, South Gyeongsang, apartment building on Monday morning, burying its first floor. 

Firefighters dispatched to Okpo-dong at around 4:42 a.m. rescued two residents trapped on the buried first floor and pulled out a third resident who was unconscious and was subsequently declared dead. 

Authorities believe more people may still be trapped and are continuing rescue operations at the site.

The landslide came as rain fell at up to 100 millimeters (4 inches) per hour across the Geoje area in the early morning, triggering evacuation orders over fears of reservoir overflow and river flooding.

At around 2:42 a.m., the Geoje city government issued an emergency notice warning that Mundong Reservoir faced a high risk of overflow and urging nearby residents to evacuate to higher ground immediately. Two minutes later, at around 2:44 a.m., the city banned all vehicle and pedestrian traffic around Gohyeon Stream as its water level rose sharply.

As of 8 a.m., about 70 Geoje residents have evacuated to safe areas, according to the city. Roads flooded repeatedly across downtown areas, including Sangdong-dong, Suyang-dong and Sangpyeong-dong, as drains backed up. Around 20 roads are closed to traffic.

City buses, intercity buses and taxis have all stopped running. 

Power was also cut to about 1,500 homes and businesses in Ilun-myeon, Gohyeon-dong and Jangseungpo-dong, causing further disruption for residents.

Residents rattled by the overnight downpour and emergency sirens described their fear online. Local community boards and social media were flooded with posts and videos from the scene, including comments such as "I stayed up all night, terrified by how hard the rain was coming down," "the water rose to waist height around Gohyeon-dong" and "the road in front of my apartment is flooded."

Geoje received more than 700 millimeters of rain over the three-day Liberation Day holiday weekend, including over 400 millimeters that fell between Sunday night and Monday dawn, causing damage across the city.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast an additional 80 to 150 millimeters of rain for South Gyeongsang's southern coast.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]