More than 30 people have died in a tour bus crash in North Korea, sources confirmed to NK News on Monday.
Chinese state news agency CGTN in a tweet reported that the fatal accident had been caused by the bus coming off a bridge, though the tweet was later deleted. No additional details have yet been provided by officials, and DPRK state media is yet to report on the accident.
But travel industry sources told NK News that the vehicle had been carrying a group of Chinese travel company staff from Beijing, with one source in China saying the crash took place as the bus returned to Pyongyang from the southern city of Kaesong.
The road from Kaesong to Pyongyang is currently undergoing extensive renovation works, multiple sources told NK News during the last week, in preparation for Friday’s summit between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in.
Weather conditions may have played a role, with the Korean peninsula seeing heavy rain and wind on Sunday.
The group involved in the accident had flown in from Shenyang, China, sources said.
In addition, an in-country source told NK News that they had seen two ambulances with sirens on at 2200 in Pyongyang, “which is rare.”
A report carried by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Monday saw Beijing’s embassy in Pyongyang appear to partially confirm the reports.
In a statement, the embassy said the accident had taken place in North Hwanghae Province on Sunday, and that it had resulted in “heavy casualties.”
“Relevant details are currently being verified,” the statement read. “The Working Group of the Chinese Embassy in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, accompanied by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, rushed to the scene of the incident.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has activated the emergency mechanism overnight and is fully engaged in the disposal work.”
