Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - North Korean authorities declared a state of emergency Thursday after a massive explosion occurred earlier in the day at a railway station in the north of the country. South Korean sources say that the incident caused up to 3 ,000 dead or injured.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported that Pyongyang also cut international telephone lines to prevent news of the blast from leaking outside. After many hours since the incident occurred, North Korean government agency KCNA has not reported any news on the incident.

Meanwhile, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity decleared: ''We've obtained the information that there was a large explosion near Ryongchon Station,'' ''We have yet to find out the cause of the incident, the kind of explosion and how many died.''

Yonhap earlier said that at 1.00 pm local time, two cargo trains carrying gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas collided and exploded at Ryonchon Station, some 50 kilometers north of Pyongyang.

South Korean media stress the point that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, on his way home by train from an unofficial visit to China, passed through the station some nine hours earlier

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• korea
• railway
• incident
• kim
• jong
• il