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150 dead after rail blast: N Korea officials "the explosion had been caused by dynamite"
RTE News - Ireland ^ | 4-23-04

Posted on 04/23/2004 2:15:13 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

North Korea has released information for the first time on yesterday's explosion in the northwest of the country, which caused many casualties.

Reports reaching neighbouring countries have said two trains carrying fuel oil collided at a station in the town of Ryongchon, causing an explosion that killed up to 3,000 people.

Speaking to RTÉ Radio from Pyongyang, the regional director of the Irish aid agency Concern, Ann O'Mahony, said North Korean officials had released information about the accident in response to requests from international representatives.

The officials said the explosion had been caused by dynamite and they gave much lower casualty figures of 150 dead and 1,000 injured.

Ms O'Mahony also said the authorities had invited foreign representatives, including the International Red Cross, to visit the scene tomorrow.

A state of emergency is reported to have been declared by North Korea.

Earlier, the US said it is willing to help if required.

Satellite pictures show large clouds of black smoke above the town. Reports say the collision appears to have been accidental.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: nktrainwreck; northkorea
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1 posted on 04/23/2004 2:15:13 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Fascinating. Within a day or so the little dictator will blame the US
2 posted on 04/23/2004 2:21:35 AM PDT by GeronL (Who stole the fire truck in Poynor TX?? They need it back, please.... thanks)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
" ... two trains carrying fuel oil collided at a station in the town of Ryongchon, causing an explosion that killed up to 3,000 people."

Gee ... Just like what happened to Flight 800.

What the heck are they putting in that there diesel oil anyhoo?

3 posted on 04/23/2004 2:24:29 AM PDT by G.Mason (A President is best judged by the enemies he makes when he has really hit his stride…Max Lerner)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Earlier, Chinese source reported that it was caused by leaking ammonium nitrate, now Irish media says that it was dynamite.

If it was dynamite which did it, what was it doing next to trains carrying petroleum and liquefied natural gas? The whole picture is yet to be sorted out. Still confusing.

4 posted on 04/23/2004 2:26:35 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: GeronL
Fascinating. Within a day or so the little dictator will blame the US

And Maxine Waters will give another set of speeches joining the little dictator in his blame against us.

Wouldn't surprise me anyway.

5 posted on 04/23/2004 2:29:44 AM PDT by #3Fan (Kerry to POW-MIA activists: "You'll wish you'd never been born.". Link on my homepage.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The whole world is moving in global war and chaos mode...even the Ba'athists get to run Iraq again. WTH??
6 posted on 04/23/2004 2:32:34 AM PDT by ApesForEvolution (FREE 3D On-line Golf Game - Independent Reseller of the Week: http://egolfinternational.com/wig)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
See this updated Reuters link:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4920578&section=news

It indicates the train was loaded with "explosives, possibly for mining". It also claims 54 dead, but "1,850 households leveled and 6,350 partially destroyed".
7 posted on 04/23/2004 2:49:32 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The democRATS are near the tipping point.)
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To: GeronL
Fascinating. Within a day or so the little dictator will blame the US

One of these guys for sure is to blame.


8 posted on 04/23/2004 2:57:10 AM PDT by Bluntpoint
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Re #7

So what is the sequence of events? The train with explosives blew up first, and causing explosions in trains with petroleum and LNG parked in the same station? Or are petroleum and LNG are in storage facilities near the station? I say this because a S. Korean news report I read reports that there are storage facilities for fuel and LNG in that town. Petroleum and LNG seem to figure prominently into this accident one way or another. That would be my take at this time. Let us see what happens.

9 posted on 04/23/2004 3:06:35 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
It also claims 54 dead, but "1,850 households leveled and 6,350 partially destroyed".

Hard to see how the toll is not going to be well into the hundreds if not thousands. The population of NK is estimated at around 20 million.

10 posted on 04/23/2004 3:50:37 AM PDT by Ken H
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To: TigerLikesRooster
Reuters update:

[snip] ...

North Korean officials said railworkers were trying to uncouple two carriages carrying dynamite and link them to another train.

"They got caught in the overhead electric wiring. The dynamite exploded and that was the cause of the explosion," O'Mahony said.

Russia's Tass news agency reported from Pyongyang that the explosives were to be used to build an irrigation canal... [snip]

11 posted on 04/23/2004 4:30:22 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The democRATS are near the tipping point.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Re #11

Thanks for the update.

12 posted on 04/23/2004 4:34:00 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Reads as though they got a lakebed instead of a canal and perhaps not where it was intended.
13 posted on 04/23/2004 4:39:42 AM PDT by Cvengr (;^))
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To: Cvengr
Re #13

Yep. That sums it up.

14 posted on 04/23/2004 4:43:30 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: ApesForEvolution
The whole world is moving in global war and chaos mode...even the Ba'athists get to run Iraq again. WTH??

The world isn't particularly or unusually violent at the moment. No idea where you're getting that impression.

There aren't any big full-scale wars going on right now at all. How often can you say that in world history?

15 posted on 04/23/2004 6:30:07 AM PDT by John H K
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Wired Magazine News says that the dynamite was to be used for building new irrigation canals.

Latest from the AP here:

150 Said Dead in North Korea Train Blast

16 posted on 04/23/2004 9:05:21 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)
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To: All
From the above link:

.............................................................

Reports also varied over what exactly exploded.

"What they've said is that two carriages of a train carrying dynamite - they were trying to disconnect the carriages and link them up to another train," she said. "They got caught in the overhead electric wiring, the dynamite exploded, and that was the cause of the explosion."

Sparrow said the trains were carrying explosives similar to those used in mining. China's Xinhua News Agency reported the blast was blamed on ammonium nitrate - a chemical used in fertilizers - leaking from one train. South Korea's unification minister said the trains were carrying fuel.

The blast leveled the train station, a school and apartments within a 500-yard radius, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said, quoting Chinese witnesses. It said there were about 500 passengers and railway officials in the station at the time of the blast.

North Korean officials invited foreign officials to visit the site of the disaster Saturday, O'Mahony said.

17 posted on 04/23/2004 9:09:44 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
North Korean officials invited foreign officials to visit the site of the disaster Saturday, O'Mahony said.

That should be enough time to completely conceal what really happened.

18 posted on 04/23/2004 9:15:18 AM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
There have been rumors around that little Kim was the real target of this. Some have said we did it, others say china.

Who knows.
19 posted on 04/23/2004 9:27:39 AM PDT by Valin (Hating people is like burning down your house to kill a rat)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
 
  Latest Developments

Yahoo! Photo AP Photo

Hundreds Said Killed in North Korea Blast
(AP) - North Korean officials say several hundred people were believed killed in an explosion at a train station in the town of Ryongchon near the Chinese border, the British ambassador to North Korea said Friday. The officials also told Ambassador David Slinn and other European envoys stationed in Pyongyang that several thousand people were believed injured and many might still be trapped in collapsed buildings nearby, a British Foreign Office spokesman said in London. More...


20 posted on 04/23/2004 9:41:32 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer (The democRATS are near the tipping point.)
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