rescuers are working frantically to locate survivors in chuncheon. five neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital are under evacuation orders. the rain did lighten up a bit earlier on thursday. it is now coming down hard again. it is expected to break by friday. >>> the sheer amount of rain that's fallen on south korea in the past two days is hard to imagine. me meteorologists say it's the heaviest rain they've seen in 100 years. >> reporter: the death toll has been steadily rising here in south korea, due to torrential rains and mudslides that have been created. now there has been at least 44 people confirmed dead. that's according to the central disaster relief agency. now, among the dead we know that in the southern part of seoul, there were particularly bad mudslides which ended with 16 people being kill ed ed in that area. also just east of seoul, near the city of chuncheon, 13 people have been known to have been killed, some students volunteering in that area. and many sm were killed in a factory that collapsed because of the rain. we've se