More than 600 children have fallen ill with heat exhaustion at the 25th World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, South Korea, as youngsters struggle to cope with the conditions.
About 43,000 people from 158 countries, including 4,500 from Britain, are taking part in the event, which is regarded as the world’s largest youth camp.
In what is “meant to be a time for Scouts from around the world to come together to create memories that will last a lifetime”, said The Telegraph, youngsters are “too busy trying to cope with a crippling heatwave to worry about having much fun at all”.
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As the 12-day event began, South Korea raised its hot weather warning to the highest level for the first time in four years, with parts of the country experiencing high humidity and temperatures above 38C (100F).
As participants began to suffer, a Jeonbuk Fire Service official said that “most of them were experiencing mild symptoms such as headache, dizziness and nausea, and all returned to their campsites”.
But a British parent has complained that their child has been “abandoned in a mosquito-infested field”, said the Daily Mail. Speaking to The Telegraph, a British parent said: “We now have kids crying, thinking they are going to die.”
Another parent told the paper that her son had reported “flooding, ambulances everywhere, rubbish, poor sanitation”, and “not enough food” or “areas of shade”.
South Korea has “pumped millions” into improving conditions at the site on the country’s western coast, said The Guardian. President Yoon Suk-yeol has ordered “unlimited” air-conditioned buses and cold-water trucks to be sent to the site and hundreds more sanitary and medical staff being brought in.
Jacob Murray, events director at the World Organization of the Scout Movement, said: “Despite the heat conditions, young people and volunteers are having a good time and enjoying their experience at the event.”
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