A South Korean man tending a family grave is suspected of sparking one of the ‘unprecedented’ wildfires that ravaged the southeastern part of the country last week, the National Police Agency said Monday.

South Korean police said on Sunday they booked a man suspected of starting what grew into the country's largest wildfire, killing at least 26 people and razing thousands of buildings including historic temples.

A 56-year-old man is being investigated in South Korea on suspicion of starting a deadly wildfire that killed 30 people. The man, who has not been named, was performing an ancestral rite by a family grave on a hill in Uiseong county,