[Yonhap Photo]
A Soviet-designed Ka-32 helicopter crash-landed in a mountain valley, leaving a crew member dead, during its mission Monday to put down wildfires that have raged in a mountainous region along South Korea's east coast.
The accident was reported in Samcheok, about 190 kilometers (114 miles) east of Seoul, when the helicopter with three crew members aboard tried to make an emergency landing. A 47-year-old maintenance member identified by his surname Cho was declared dead before reaching a nearby hospital.
The Ka-32 is the civilian version of the Kamov helicopters developed for the Soviet navy. The Korea Forest Service (KFS), a state agency, runs 18 Ka-32s for firefighting.
KFS officials said Cho appeared to have been tossed off the helicopter when it made an emergency landing after hitting a high-voltage wire during its flight through the fog to refuel. The plane's pilot and co-pilot escaped unhurt.
South Korea has been hit by a series of wind-fed forest fires from Saturday that killed a mountain climber and injured two others in Sangju southeast of Seoul. Most were put under control but two mountainous areas in the eastern ports of Samcheok and Gangneung were still engulfed in flames.
So far, the blaze has gutted more than 100 hectares of forest. Strong winds and rugged roads have hampered a joint operation by thousands of firefighters, police, soldiers and government officials. The operation also involved some 60 military and government helicopters.
More than 6,000 front-line army soldiers were mobilized to contain the flames in Samcheok and Gangneung, just south of the inter-Korean border.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
