Train disaster: survivors risk starvation
Beijing (AsiaNews) Eighty of the 1300 people wounded in the Ryongchon train disaster are still held in hospital. 275 families have been affected by the accident as the explosion destroyed their houses. The disaster happened last April.
Nicholas Young, President of the English Red Cross, affirmed that "it is hard to imagine how much the accident has affected the lives of this people. It must have been devastating. Many of the survivors are still shocked because of both the explosion and the reconstruction".
The train disaster has compromised the already difficult situation of this country, where famine and poverty enslave the population. Many people survive on the aids provided by humanitarian international organisations.
The Red Cross is concerned about the situation in North Korea. Political issues, such as the recently inaugurated nuclear program, risk to "reduce humanitarian aids, causing the loss of many lives and the increase of suffering".
In the past few months, the World Food Program (WFP) denounced the decrease of donations and the cut to the distribution of food. According to a report recently published by WFP, in June and July 2 million people, including pregnant women and newborn children, will have no cereal rations. In May, 800,000 children did not receive any kind of vegetable oils, while 1 million of them had not even any kind of legume.
Ryongchon train disaster happened on April 22nd. Ryongchon county (Pyongan province) has a population of 123,200 people; 27,000 people live in the county city. The casualty figures provided by the government are as follows: 161 dead, including 76 children; five persons missing; and 1,300 injured. Damage to property is extensive and reported to be up to 40 percent of the area of the township. About 1,850 homes, a large number of public buildings such as schools and offices, have been destroyed or damaged.
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