More than seven-thousand hectares of forest have been wiped out in multiple wildfires, which have ravaged the nation’s southern areas since Friday. 

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of 9 p.m. Sunday, firefighting efforts continued in five areas: Sancheong and Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province; Uiseong, North Gyeongsang Province; Ulju County, Ulsan; and Okcheon, North Chungcheong Province.

The wildfires had destroyed seven-thousand-778 hectares of forest as of 9 p.m. Sunday, including some six-thousand hectares in Uiseong and one-thousand-379 hectares in Sancheong. 

Four people died and six others were injured in Sancheong, with nearly two-thousand people in the affected areas evacuated to shelters. 

Ninety homes were destroyed and 20 others damaged. 

Fire authorities are having difficulty putting out the fires due to strong winds and dry weather, but have contained 71 percent of the flames in Sancheong, 60 percent in Uiseong, 72 percent in Ulju and 96 percent in Gimhae. 

The wildfire in Okcheon, which broke out Sunday morning, was extinguished Sunday night.