N. Korea:Aid Workers Rush to N. Korean Train Site(15 fresh pictures of the blast site)

AP, Reuters via Yahoo!News ^ | 04/24/04 | CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[The Mayor]

bump!

[ken5050]

One thing I haven't read about this...N. Korea needs most everything, its economy is in the crapper, yet the ONE thing it has plenty of, seriously, is fertilizer, since it is the custom there to use human waste as fertilizer. So, of all the stuff they need, would they be bringing in trainloads of the stuff. I think not...Pun intended..the story smells...

[nuconvert]

Thanks for the ping.

That's a big hole, alright.

plz ping me if you post more info.
Thanks.

[TigerLikesRooster]

I will flag you if I find more interesting info.:)

[VRWCTexan]

Good point (must be more to the story) - or else maybe they "export" the good stuff to China by rail in trade for other goods in short supply?

[First_Salute]

Terrorists, training for blowing up things by use of railroad tank cars ...

Training accident.

[HAL9000]

yet the ONE thing it has plenty of, seriously, is fertilizer,

Hyperbole aside, North Korea has a severe shortage of agricultural fertilizer.

[sam_paine]

I'm no bomb expert (FBI disclaimer) but isn't the fertilizer just the oxidizer? Didn't the OKC-type bomb require the fertilizer be soaked in fuel, like gasoline or kerosene?

And THEN you'd have to ignite it with an incendiary charge of some sort, not just sparks.

Besides, with the changing stories, etc.....sounds like you had to actually try hard to make this happen.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Great photos, no doubt about the damaged apartment buildings.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

It's like what someone once said to me about Chernobyl; It's not nuclear power that caused the disaster- it was communist bureaucracy.

Same with the 'Peoples Democratic Republic'- communist bureaucracy.

[sheik yerbouty]

More like kim chee, flatulence, and matchesd..

[knarf]

All excellent comments.
I too add my voice and opinion to the aroma of barracuda eminating from this story.

I commented on an earlier thread that I thought it was 'miraculous' that these three products combined to produce a 'tragedy' .... an ANFO bomb.

My parting shot was ... Where was Arlen sphincter and when did he know what?

[Delta 21]

I worked at a golf course in the 80's that imported human waste fertilizer for it greens. It was expensive and worked very well.

The mass quantities of ammonium nitrate is a bit odd to say the least. It may be new to them and they may have not been up to speed on its proper handling procedures.

[olde north church]

None of the people in the photos appear to be "walking skeletons" from lack of food.
I would thing with 1 billion+ people, the LAST thing one would think the Chinese would need to import for fertilizer would be human waste.
Finally, will this change the outcome of the upcoming elections?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

...downed power lines ignited a cargo of volatile ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think the fertilizer has to be mixed with diesel fuel before it becomes an explosive. The fertizer itself isn't shipped like that. This sounds like some Korean PR hack pulled that story out of the air (or somewhere else).

[GladesGuru]

The Red Chinese bought a phosphate mine in the Florida phosphate district (centered around the city of Mulberry) decades ago. They so did because they were, and are, dependent on chemical fertilizers.

And that's no crap! Sorry for the pun, but I couldn't resist.

[justshutupandtakeit]

We were given a changed story last night when it was said that the train was filled with dynamite somehow set off by electrical sparks or fields. Does this make sense to anyone?

[Uncle George]

I have only one question----- Will the Commie soldiers allow GIEGER COUNTER to enter the area ????????????