Ryongchon disaster

The Ryongchŏn disaster was a train disaster that occurred in the town of Ryongchŏn, North Korea near the border with China on April 22, 2004.

Related Topics:
Train disaster - Ryongchŏn - North Korea - China - April 22 - 2004

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The disaster occurred when a flammable cargo exploded at the railway station at about 1300 local time (0400 UTC). The news was broken by South Korean 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 declared a state of emergency in the region, but little information about the accident has been made public by the notoriously secretive government. Shortly after the accident the North Korean government cut telephone lines to the rest of the world (an action correspondents attributed either to a desire to inhibit foreign reporting or to prevent their own population from learning unfavourable news about the accident).

Related Topics:
Railway station - UTC - South Korea - State of emergency

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