The Ryongchŏn disaster was a train disaster that occurred on 22 April 2004 in the town of
Ryongchŏn,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
, near the border with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. At least 54 people were killed, including some
Syrian scientists.
The disaster occurred when flammable cargo exploded at
Ryongchon Station at around 13:00 local time (04:00 GMT). The news was released by
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
n media outlets, which reported that up to 3,000 people had been killed or injured in the blast and subsequent fires.
The
North Korean government
In the North Korean government, the Cabinet is the administrative and executive body. The North Korean government consists of three branches: administrative, legislative, and judicial. However, they are not independent of each other, but al ...
declared a
state of emergency in the region, but little information has been made public by the North Korean government. Shortly after the accident, the North Korean government cut telephone lines to the outside world.
Effects
The
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
was allowed into the area, in an unusual concession from the North Korean authorities, becoming the only outside agency to see the disaster area. According to the initial agency report, 160 people were killed and 1,300 were injured in the disaster.
[ Later reports include updated figures: 160 dead and 1,300 injured.] However, official casualty reports the following day listed 54 deaths and 1,249 injuries. A wide area was reported to have been affected, with some airborne debris reportedly falling across the border in China. (Satellite pictures published by the
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purported to show widespread damage in the town, but these were later retracted — they actually show
from an earlier date, and the strong black-white contrast was misinterpreted.
) The Red Cross reported that 1,850 houses and buildings had been destroyed and another 6,350 had been damaged.
received an appeal for international aid from North Korea's government. The following day, a few diplomats and aid workers were allowed into the country to assess the disaster.
The cause and nature of the accident have been the subject of considerable speculation, with several different accounts being reported.
* It was initially reported that the explosion was the result of a collision between two trains carrying gasoline (petrol) and
.