The high temperatures recorded these days in Buan, South Korea, do not give respite to the approximately 43,000 young people who gathered at the 25th World Scout Jamboree, the world gathering of scouts.
Hundreds of participants fell ill, almost all teenagers between 14 and 18 years. In the first two days of the event alone, Wednesday and Thursday, around 600 cases of heatstroke were registered, many being treated in a makeshift hospital on the campsite.
The heat wave has brought temperatures close to 38 degrees, and for the whole week according to forecasts they will not drop below 35. Peaks that South Korea has not reached for 4 years. Nor does the location chosen for the event help, an islet just south of Seoul where natural shade is almost entirely absent, an arid expanse covered by the tents of the gathering.
Among the scouts most affected are American, British and Bangladeshi, according to local media. The Italian delegation participates with about 1,200 young people. The Seoul government has called in more doctors, arranged for air-conditioned buses, called in soldiers to set up more tents and provide more shade, and guaranteed dozens of tankers with cold water.
(Unioneonline/L)
