Nearly 2.9 million people travel through Gwangju, South Jeolla Province during Chuseok holiday

Nearly 2.9 million people traveled through the Gwangju and South Jeolla Province region during this year's Chuseok holiday, with no major casualties reported and medical and transportation services running smoothly throughout.

According to the Gwangju-South Jeolla Integrated Special City, a total of 2,898,687 people moved through the region over the four days from Thursday through Sunday. Of those, 1,458,390 were traveling to their hometowns and 1,440,297 were heading back, with a daily average of 724,671 people on the move.

A total of 297,124 people visited major cemeteries to pay their respects at ancestral graves, including Mangwol Cemetery, Yeongnak Park and the municipal cemeteries in Suncheon and Yeosu. More than half of those visits — 168,472 people — came on just two days: Saturday and Sunday.

Incidents during the holiday were relatively minor. Authorities received reports of 30 fires and 1,859 rescue and emergency calls in the region, but most involved no casualties.

The city mobilized a full range of transportation measures to ease holiday travel, adding 34 runs across 15 intercity bus routes, 204 ferry sailings and six KTX train services.

Bus No. 518, which runs between downtown Gwangju and Yeongnak Park, expanded its service on Chuseok day from 10 buses making 60 runs to 16 buses making 90 runs. About 100 police officers, civil servants and designated safe-driving volunteers were also deployed on site.

To prevent gaps in medical care, 59 emergency medical institutions, 1,215 clinics and hospitals and 1,236 pharmacies remained open, with five public late-night and children's hospitals continuing to see patients throughout the holiday.