South Korean deluge triggers landslides, kills dozens

South Korea struggled to recover Thursday from the nation's heaviest rainfall in decades — a torrential two-day downpour that triggered landslides and flooding, killed at least 42 people and left countless others missing or stranded.

Military officials scrambled to retrieve explosives swept away by the storm. In one incident, a military ammunitions depot collapsed under a landslide, and officials said only half of the explosives — including 93 land mines — had been found.

They also worked to retrieve numerous Korean War-era land mines that were dislodged by the storm from grounds near an air-defense unit outside Seoul. The officials warned residents that 10 of those mines remained missing.

"Chances are low that the mines will be spotted," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.

By the hour, a water-weary nation continued to take toll of its dead, which included 10 university students volunteering at an elementary school and the 63-year-old wife of a department store magnate who drowned while investigating the flooding in the basement of her upscale home.

Dozens of homes in hillside areas of metropolitan Seoul were damaged by cascading mudflows that officials said killed at least 17 people. In the city of Chuncheon, about 50 miles outside Seoul, landslides swept away several residential buildings, reportedly killing 13 people — including the 10 students — and injuring 26 others.

Elsewhere, a river tributary just outside Seoul overflowed Thursday, killing seven. In another nearby community, a factory roof collapsed in the rain, killing three workers and injuring two.

Late Thursday, thousands of firefighters, soldiers and other emergency workers used heavy machinery and shovels to comb water-clogged communities for the missing, with some teams carrying out bodies on stretchers.

As emergency sirens blared around the clock, the sudden deluge paralyzed Seoul, closing schools and businesses, flooding subway stations and knocking over pedestrians with torrents of water.

At one station, commuters used shovels and brooms to keep more rain from flooding the platform. The rain also clogged city traffic, closing roads and causing several-hour delays in some areas.

Seoul officials reported that scores of people had taken refuge in emergency shelters. More than 700 houses and 4,000 vehicles remain submerged.

President Lee Myung-bak visited a disaster command center, urging citizens to stay calm. "Please make sure to take thorough measures and cope with the aftermath through close contact with local governments," he advised residents.

More than 17 inches of rain fell on Seoul between Tuesday and Thursday, about 15 times the average two-day rainfall this year, said weather officials, who warned that another 10 inches could fall Friday.