Nine persons were confirmed dead and seven others went missing as South Korea’s capital Seoul and its surrounding areas were battered by heavy rainfall that started on Monday.

Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday citing the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Over 500 millimetres of rain fell in Seoul until Wednesday morning, while the western port city of Incheon, Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, and Gangwon province next to Gyeonggi was also pounded by torrential rain.

The downpour left nine people dead, including five from Seoul, three from Gyeonggi and one from Gangwon.

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.

Around 570 people from 398 households, mostly in Seoul and Gyeonggi, were displaced and took shelter in public facilities, while 1,253 people from 724 households across the country were temporarily evacuated.

More than 2,600 homes and buildings, mostly in low-lying areas of Seoul, were inundated, and thousands of vehicles were flooded on roads.

(NAN)