**ISTANBUL**
The number of people killed in wildfires sweeping across parts of South Korea has risen to 26, authorities said Thursday.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said wildfires in North and South Gyeongsang provinces have caused 56 casualties: 26 deaths, eight serious injuries, and 22 light injuries, according to Yonhap News Agency.
As many as 37,185 residents have been displaced, including 29,911 in the Uiseong and Andong areas about 190 kilometers (118 miles) southeast of Seoul.
Some 20,485 people have returned home after evacuation, while the remaining 16,700 are still staying in shelters.
Three elderly residents died when a vehicle carrying them became engulfed in flames during an evacuation of a nursing home which housed 21 residents, all in their 70s and 80s, in Yeongdeok-eup, Yeongdeok County in eastern South Korea.
The flames also gutted the historic Gounsa Temple in Uiseong County, originally built in 681 AD by a Buddhist monk during the Silla Dynasty. Cultural officials moved the temple’s 9th-century Stone Seated Buddha and other historical artifacts to safety before the fire reached the site.
Thousands of firefighters, dozens of helicopters and emergency vehicles have been deployed since the fires began last Friday in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province. Fueled by strong, dry winds, the wildfires have since spread rapidly north to Uiseong, Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang and Yeongdeok.
The South Korean military has also deployed an estimated 5,000 service members and sent 146 helicopters to help fight the fires alongside thousands of firefighters.
The Korea Forest Service said the fire extinguishing rate stood at 52% in Andong, 54% in Uiseong and 77% in Sancheong, Hadong and Cheongsong, respectively.
Korea University announced Wednesday that it will offer scholarships to students from the areas affected by the wildfires.
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