South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol today ordered an all-out effort to handle the devastation caused by days of torrential rain, as the death toll grew to 39.

Yoon convened an intra-agency meeting on disaster response and called for authorities to make the utmost effort to rescue victims, vowing support for recovery work, including designating affected areas as special disaster zones.

The rains have battered the country's central and southern regions since Thursday. Rescuers are working to reach passengers trapped in a flooded 685-meter-long tunnel in the central South Korean city of Cheongju, have recovered 13 bodies. On Saturday night, flood water from a burst river bank poured into the underpass, quickly trapping people in their cars and commuters on a bus. At least nine people are still missing after a weekend deluge. Fire officials estimated that the tunnel filled with water in as little as two or three minutes.

The latest disaster took place despite South Korea's vow to step up preparedness against torrential rains after Seoul was hit last year with floods caused by the heaviest downpours in 115 years.