Japan to Send Humanitarian Aid to North Korean Blast Victims
VOA News
25 Apr 2004, 17:32 UTC
Japan has announced it will send emergency relief to North Korea following a deadly train explosion in the city of Ryongchon.
Japan's foreign ministry Sunday said it will give some $100,000 in response to a request by the United Nations humanitarian affairs office. It also said Japan will consider further assistance after more details about the explosion are known.
China and South Korea have also pledged emergency assistance. China's Xinhua news agency said the first aid shipments from China arrived today at the site of the devastating blast near the Chinese border.
Earlier today, International Red Cross officials confirmed that the death toll from Thursday's explosion has risen to 161. The organization did not say whether it reflected new deaths or freshly confirmed casualties. The number of injured remains at 1,300.
North Korea formally requested international assistance Friday, leading to the dispatch of teams from the United Nations and the Red Cross. The aid workers delivered supplies including surgical materials, disinfectant and medicines.
Arriving in Ryongchon Saturday, representatives of the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society described finding huge craters, twisted railways ties, flattened houses, and rubble everywhere.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
