By Minwoo Park and Daewoung Kim ANDONG, South Korea (Reuters) -Wildfires raging in South Korea doubled in size on Thursday from a day earlier, as authorities called the blazes the country's worst natural fire disaster with at least 26 people killed and historic temples incinerated.

Many of the buildings at the temple complex, first built by monks in the year 681, burned to the ground this week as South Korea's largest wildfire ever swept through forests and towns, killing at least 26 people and destroying or damaging priceless cultural sites.