Five dead and flights cancelled as Seoul battered by heavy snowfall for second day

At least five people have died after heavy snowfall blanketed South Korea for a second day. The snowfall was the third-heaviest in Seoul, the capital, since records began in 1907, the Yonhap news agency said, citing data from the city, and a record for the month of November. More than 40 cm (16 inches) of snow piled up in parts of Seoul by Thursday morning, forcing the cancellation of more than 140 flights, although weather officials subsequently lifted heavy snow warnings in the city’s metropolitan area.

Yonhap reported at least five snowfall-related deaths in the province of Gyeonggi adjoining Seoul since Wednesday, four people when structures collapsed under the weight of snow, and one in a traffic accident when a bus skidded on an icy road. Police said 11 people were injured on Wednesday evening in a 53-vehicle pile-up on a highway in the central city of Wonju in Gangwon province. The season’s first snowfall brought scenes of both dispair and delight in the country.



“It’s been snowing a lot today,” 73-year-old Lee Sook-ja told Reuters at Namdaemun market, one of the biggest in Seoul. “It’s freezing and chilly, but having a cup of hot fish cake soup really helps warm me up.” Videos and pictures showed both tourists and locals throwing snowballs and building snowmen as trees were covered with fresh snow.

However, many houses were left without power, hundreds of domestic and international passengers suffered flight delays and distruptions and ferry services were suspended. The Seoul metropolitan government said more than 11,000 personnel were mobilised to remove snow from roads with nearly 20,000 pieces of equipment. Traffic slowed down for commuters in Seoul and the surrounding capital region as entry was restricted to some roads where trees had fallen due to the weight of snow.

More than 142 flights suffered distruptions as severe weather conditions impacted travel. Seoul’s main airport, Incheon, was the worst affected, with passengers facing delays of about two hours on average, while 31 per cent of flights were delayed and 16 pe cent cancelled on Thursday, plane tracking website Flightradar24 showed. The weather also forces school closures with bout 1,285 schools including kindergartens closing until further notice in Gyeonggi province, authorities said.

People in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces are warned to brace for more snow on Friday while while parts of Jeolla and Jeju Island are expected to receive snow until early Saturday morning. The unusually heavy November snow has been attributed to warmer-than-usual temperatures of the seas west of the Korean peninsula encountering currents of cold air. Neighbouring North Korea has also received more than 10cm (4 inches) of snow in some areas between Tuesday and Wednesday, state broadcaster Korean Central Television said.

Additional reporting by agencies.