About 36,000 young Scouts and adult volunteers were set to leave Saemangeum, the venue of the 25th World Scout Jamboree, four days ahead of schedule Tuesday morning due to the approach of a powerful typhoon, mostly for the Seoul metropolitan area, the organizing committee said.
A total of 1,022 buses will transport the jamboree participants from 156 countries to new accommodations in eight cities and provinces, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital, beginning at 10 a.m., according to the committee.
The government has secured 66 lodgings in Gyeonggi, 18 in the central province of South Chungcheong, 17 in Seoul, eight in Incheon, seven in the central province of North Chungcheong, six in the central city of Daejeon, three in the central administrative city of Sejong and another three in the southwestern province of North Jeolla, it said.
By the number of people, Gyeonggi is to accommodate about 18,000, followed by about 6,000 in South Chungcheong and about 3,000 in Seoul, it noted.
About 4,000 participants are to stay in North Jeolla, to which Saemangeum belongs, to take part in the remaining jamboree programs, the committee said.
The committee said it will cooperate with the police to take all measures to ensure that the buses carrying the participants can move as safely and quickly as possible.
The quadrennial global event kicked off in Saemangeum on Aug. 1 and was scheduled to continue through Saturday. The decision to end the event early was made due to Typhoon Khanun's expected landfall on the nation's southeastern coast Thursday morning, bringing heavy rain and winds with a maximum speed of up to 44 meters per second that the state weather agency warns are strong enough to derail a running train.
Prior to the early departure decision, the overall situation at the Saemangeum campground was gradually improving after initial woes associated with a scorching heat wave, a lack of preparation and the withdrawal of some contingents.
Source: Yonhap News Agency