Officials of Buk-gu Office in the city of Gwangju are loading the relief supplies for victims of the wildfires in southeastern region on March 28, in this photo provided by Buk-gu officials. (Buk-gu Office in Gwangju-Yonhap)
Officials of Buk-gu Office in the city of Gwangju are loading the relief supplies for victims of the wildfires in southeastern region on March 28, in this photo provided by Buk-gu officials. (Buk-gu Office in Gwangju-Yonhap)

Donations in cash and relief supplies have been pouring in for victims of devastating wildfires, but several tons of the donated items were found to be unusable, a local media outlet reported Wednesday.

Local broadcaster TBC reported that 11 tons of the items sent to Cheongsong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, had to be discarded without use. They included kitchen supplies covered in grease or badly damaged, and dust-covered blankets and clothing.

A nonprofit relief group said it had to pay over 700,000 won ($470) in delivery fees to receive boxes of old clothes that they had to throw out.

"They sent us stuff you throw out as garbage. We were heart-broken to the extent of being in tears. They made us pay the delivery fees too, costing us over 700,000 won," an official of the group was quoted as saying.

A similar situation occurred in the aftermath of the wildfires in Gangwon Province in 2019, which resulted in 30 tons of the 53 tons of donated clothes being thrown out.

The latest series of wildfires have ravaged across the southeastern region since mid-March, leaving 31 dead 45 injured, and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. The largest wildfires in the country's history have affected over 48,000 hectares of land.

In light of the tragedy, South Koreans have raised over in 112.4 billion won ($76 million) of money in donations, the largest donation in history that is far more than the 80 billion won raised for victims of the 2022 wildfires in the eastern coastal region.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com