Friday, Apr 23, 2004
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SEOUL (SOUTH KOREA), APRIL 22. At least 3,000 people were killed or injured on Thursday when two trains, carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas, collided and exploded in a North Korean train station near the Chinese border, South Korean media reported. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, reportedly had passed through the station while returning from China hours earlier. It was not clear what caused the explosion, or if it was related to Mr. Kim's journey. The number of those killed or injured could reach 3,000, South Korea's all-news cable channel, YTN, reported. North Korean authorities declared a state alert in the area. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. It did not give details, but said a type of "state of emergency" had been imposed around the town of Ryongchon. In a sign of the accident's magnitude, the secretive North Korean Government cut international lines to prevent the outflow of the news of the collision. ``The area around Ryongchon station has turned into ruins as if it were bombarded,'' Yonhap quoted witnesses as saying. ``Debris from the explosion soared high into the sky and drifted to Sinuju, a North Korean town on the border with China,'' it said. The agency said the explosion occurred about 1 p.m. at Ryongchon, a town 20 kilometres from the Chinese border. Mr. Kim passed through nine hours earlier, returning to Pyongyang. Yang Jong-hwa, a spokeswoman of South Korea's Unification Ministry, said the Ministry could not immediately confirm the reports. The Ministry is in charge of relations with North Korea. The Defence Ministry likewise was not commenting. ``We are aware of the news reports, but we will not make any comments at this stage,'' said a spokesman.
AP
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