Deadly wildfires spread across South Korea’s southeastern region on Tuesday, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes and razing neighbourhoods, with authorities transferring thousands of inmates from prisons.

As of Wednesday 5am, 12 people had died in a wildfire starting from Uiseong county, while four other deaths were linked to another fire from Sancheong county, according to the safety ministry.

Acting President Han Duck-soo has vowed to deploy firefighting helicopters and ground personnel to battle the fires, fuelled by strong winds and dry weather.

Dry conditions are expected to persist in the wildfire-hit region on Wednesday, the Safety Ministry said.

Some of the casualties occurred when they tried to escape the fire but their vehicle was overturned, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The blazes that broke out on Saturday in Uiseong are yet to be contained, gutting ancient temples and destroying homes.

The government has designated the affected areas as special disaster zones.