Byun In-soo of the town's fire station said, Ten of the 13 people killed in an early morning landslide in Chuncheon, about 68 miles northeast of the capital Seoul, were college students who had been doing volunteer work. They were staying in a resort cabin when the mud and debris engulfed them. Also killed were a married couple and a convenience store owner.
About 15 inches (400 millimeters) fell in Seoul in just 17 hours starting Tuesday afternoon. More than 10 inches (250 millimeters) fell on Chuncheon in the last two days. Weather officials said another 10 inches could fall in northern South Korea, including Seoul, through Friday.
Fast-moving muddy water filled streets in Seoul on Wednesday, with people scrambling to the roofs of their partially submerged cars. Water filled some subway stations and spewed from sewers.The official said 23 roads were closed in the city.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued a traffic emergency, mobilizing more officers to deal with the problems caused by the heavy rain.
Seoul officials said they were considering shutting down two major city highways stretching along each side of the main Han River because of rising water levels. Cha Jun-ho, an official at the government's Han River Flood Control Office, said a dam located just east of Seoul was discharging 16,400 tons of water per second. The dam discharged about 1,000 tons per second days before the recent downpours began.
About 60 houses were cut off from roads in Seoul's Hyeongchon village because of the heavy rain, and fire officials were trying to rescue them, a local officer said, declining to be identified because of office procedure.
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