South Korea battered by rain

Floods followed the worst drought for nearly 90 years

More than 30 people have died and many others are missing in South Korea after torrential rain caused mudslides and flash floods.

The rain has died down, but the government has warned that the storm may head towards the south.

The capital Seoul and the surrounding province of Kyonggi, home to 18 million people, bore the brunt of the rains, with up to 30cm falling over eight hours.

People were rescued seconds before the floods

President Kim Dae-jung urged his cabinet to take steps to clean up and make preparations to avoid further damage.

Thousands of soldiers and government officials are already helping victims clear debris from their homes.

Yonhap news agency reported that 15,000 homes were flooded and 69,000 people spent the night in temporary shelters.

Engulfed

Three family members died as they slept when a mudslide engulfed the basement of a house near a swollen river in Anyang, south of Seoul.

Others in the city itself were electrocuted by street lights submerged in flood waters.

Television pictures on Sunday showed drivers and passengers in low-lying areas rescued from their cars in the middle of the night.

Seconds later, the vehicles were swallowed up by the floods.

And services on three of Seoul's main underground railway lines were suspended.

The rains came less than a month after South Korea's worst drought in nearly 90 years.

Summer storms and typhoons regularly cause casualties in both North and South Korea but the current toll is the worst for more than five years.