Iri Station Explosion
Damage
Deaths and injuries
The explosion killed 59 people and seriously injured 185 others; altogether, over 1,300 people were injured. At the time, the population of Iri numbered around 130,000 people.
Infrastructure and property
The force of the explosion carved a crater ten meters deep and thirty meters wide. Most structures within a 500-meter radius from the site of the explosion were severely damaged. Approximately 9,500 buildings were affected by the explosion, which left about 10,000 people without a home. Residential apartment buildings, the city's first, were constructed to accommodate the displaced.
Financial and political costs
Financial damage was extensive; property losses alone were estimated to be ₩23 billion won; the government allocated ₩13 billion won for the recovery effort.
Transportation Minister Choi Kyung-rok resigned soon thereafter.
See also
References
- ^ "Huge Explosion Reportedly Kills Scores in N. Korea Border Town". Reuters. November 3, 1991. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
The news agency said the explosion was much more powerful than a blast in the southern South Korean city of Iri in 1977 when a freight train carrying dynamite blew up, killing 56 people and injuring 1,300.
- ^ "Emergency Management in Korea: Just Started, but Rapidly Evolving Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine." Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved on July 12, 2011.
- ^ Han, Sungjoo (January 1978). "South Korea 1977: Preparing for Self-Reliance". Asian Survey. 18 (1): 45–57 [53]. doi:10.2307/2643183. JSTOR 2643183.
- ^ 철도주요연표 [Major railway chronology] (in Korean). Korail. 2010. p. 203.
- ^ In 1977 wons.
- ^ Sellar, Gord (17 July 2008). "The Iri Yeok Explosion, and the Iksan Landfill Crisis". Who's Complaining in Korea. Retrieved 12 July 2012.