EPA Participants in the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea
NOS News•today, 12:08•Edited today, 12:50
A large group of scouts has been affected by the heat at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea in recent days. It is not known how many people there are, but the AP news agency reports that there are more than 400 participants. More than 40,000 scouts from all over the world participate in the global event, including almost 2,000 Dutch people.
South Korea is experiencing a heat wave with temperatures of about 38 degrees. The organization is not prepared for that extreme heat, says Josse Carstens of the Dutch delegation of scouts in the NOS Radio 1 Journaal.
“Many people were taken away with heatstroke or other heat-related problems, so that the hospital was already full in the first days.”
The crowd occasionally had to make room for ambulances to rush up:
Hundreds of scouts pass out due to heat in South Korea
The South Korean interior minister has urged the organization of the scouting event to take “all possible measures” to ensure safety. The organization has announced that additional medical staff will be deployed. According to Carstens, more water points and shady spots have also been created.
But, he says, it’s still not enough. “The Dutch embassy, together with the scouting organization, is exerting pressure to ensure that the situation improves as quickly as possible.”
Lots of insects
The flat terrain of the World Scout Jamboree is located in a polder on the west coast of South Korea. The area was created in 2006 by the reclamation of a Wadden area. The participants stay in tents in this area with hardly any vegetation.
There are lots of insects everywhere, says Carstens. “In some people, the legs are full of sores that need to be treated.”
In addition, according to Carstens, large amounts of water on the site cannot be properly drained. “After a big rain shower, it had to be pumped completely empty. Some fields with tents had 10 cm of water. We received pallets to sleep on, but it is not optimal.”
Sanne van der List/Polarsteps
Water on the grounds of the World Scout Jamboree
Sanne van der List/Polarsteps
Tents in the water at the World Scout Jamboree
According to Carstens, the heat still leads to problems, despite the extra water points and shady spots. “During the opening ceremony yesterday things went really wrong.” All the scouts had gathered on a large lawn, he says. “We were on the side of the road, where more and more ambulances were coming and going.”
At one point, Dutch scouts drove up with a golf cart full of water. They instructed the other Dutchmen to help distribute. “We walked onto the field, and everywhere children and adults were half pampered, half dehydrated,” says Carstens. “They really begged us for water.”
While waiting for a new load of water, ambulances continued to evacuate overheated people. “It was a kind of taxi rank: ambulances drove up, loaded people up and went on again.”
Correspondent China and Korea Garrie van Pinxteren:
“The whole of South Korea is now experiencing an unprecedented heat, with 22 deaths already. It is 38 degrees or more. And 38 degrees in South Korea is more difficult to bear than, for example, in Beijing, because in Korea it is extremely moist.
This heat wave has been going on for a while. The authorities knew it was going to be so hot. But they also have a lot to do now: they also have to create shady spots in the rest of the country. They’re having a kind of heat crisis they haven’t had before.”
Meanwhile, many people wanted to leave the site on foot because they were not feeling well either, says Carstens. “It was one big chaos. That’s why we improvised with a group crowd control done.”
According to Carstens, the police had “no idea what they were doing”. “We said to officers: get off that road for God’s sake, because ambulances are coming.”
According to him, the authorities are now working on an emergency plan “But we are a bit through it; it is just not fun to experience this”.
2023-08-03 10:08:17
#scouts #overheated #South #Korea #global #event
