TEMPO.CO, Seoul - Eight people were killed and six others went missing as South Korea's metropolitan region was pounded by heavy rains, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said Tuesday, August 9.

Over 100 millimeters per hour of rains hit the capital Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, on Monday night.

The per-hour precipitation in Dongjak district of Seoul reached 141.5 millimeters at one point, marking the highest since August 1942.

Up to 300 millimeters of rains are forecast for the metropolitan region through Wednesday.

The downpours left five people dead and four missing in Seoul, while three died and two others were unaccounted for in Gyeonggi province.

Nine people suffered injuries in the province, and 391 people from 230 households in the capital area were displaced and took shelter in public facilities.

One of the victims was a Chinese citizen who was killed in a landslide in the city of Hwaseong in Gyeonggi province at around 4:23 a.m. local time Tuesday, according to the Chinese Embassy in South Korea.

The heavy rains flooded railroads in Seoul and Incheon, leading to the temporary suspension of services in sections of some subway and railway lines.

Part of a highway, roads, underground roadways and riverside parking lots were blocked, and hiking courses at five national mountain parks were closed for safety concerns. Eight passenger ferry routes were left out of service.

Eighty-eight people were rescued from flooded streams.

The interior ministry has upgraded its flood damage watch level from "alert" to "serious."

Xinhua

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