North Korea Accident – A ghastly road accident in North Korea has caused the death of more than 30 Chinese tourists. China’s foreign ministry did not give any specific figure, but admitted ‘heavy casualties’ in the accident, according to a statement released today.
However, China’s state broadcaster CGTN earlier tweeted that more than 30 people died when a tour bus fell from a bridge in North Korea. The tweet was later deleted. China was informed about the accident on Sunday night, and its embassy personnel in Pyongyang rushed to the scene and are working to manage the situation, the foreign ministry statement said.
The vast majority of foreign tourists to North Korea are Chinese, with the Cold War-era allies sharing a long land border and operating flights between the two countries. Tens of thousands of Chinese tourists are believed to visit the North every year, with many crossing via train through the Chinese border city of Dandong. For some, North Korea provides a window into what Communist China may have looked like decades ago.
Chinese tourism to the North has continued even though Beijing has enforced a slew of United Nations sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. The accident occurred in North Hwanghae province, the foreign ministry said. The province lies south of the capital and stretches to the border with the South, including the city of Kaesong, an ancient Korean capital with historical sites. More recently, the area hosted a manufacturing complex operated with South Korea.
The tour group was travelling by bus from Kaesong to Pyongyang when the accident happened, according to the independent Seoul-based website NK News, which cited an unnamed source. State broadcaster CCTV showed images of a large overturned vehicle with light rain falling on rescue vehicles and doctors attending to a patient in its news broadcast of the incident.