The death toll included a pilot who died after a helicopter crashed during efforts to contain wildfires in the southeastern town of Uiseong, one of the areas hardest-hit.

A centuries-old Buddhist temple has been destroyed as South Korea struggles to contain ‘unprecedented’ wildfires ravaging the country’s southeast that have killed at least 18 people and threaten several UNESCO-listed heritage sites.

The death toll includes the pilot of a firefighting helicopter that crashed in South Korea’s Uiseong county while battling wildfires in the region.