South Korean authorities have contained the main blazes in the country's largest forest fire on record, a minister said on Friday, as rain and better weather allowed more helicopters to fly and dump water,

At least 27 people have died in what have grown into the largest wildfires in South Korea's history. Most of those who have lost their lives were in their 60s and 70s - in other words, those who struggled to escape the fast-moving infernos.

Authorities in South Korea are battling wildfires that have doubled in size in a day in the country’s worst ever natural fire disaster.