BEIJING - Victims of a North Korean train explosion, their skin charred and faces blackened by chemical burns, are wasting away in hospitals with little medicine, aid workers said yesterday in a plea for more help.
The North said it would accept cement and diesel fuel from South Korea, and also said estimated property damage is at $356 million in the city of Ryongchon, where last week's explosion was equal to 100 one-ton bombs.
The official North Korean news agency KCNA said the blast destroyed at least 8,100 homes and more than 30 public buildings.
International aid agencies have not put a price tag on reconstruction. The North's damage estimate is far above what donors have promised, fueling speculation that Pyongyang is trying to gain as much aid as possible.
Aside from the reconstruction operations
North Korea is generally facing serious economic problems said Koh Yu-hwan, a South Korean expert on the North. Through this incident it probably ... hopes to get assistance.
The death toll from Thursday's blast stood at 161, including 76 children from one destroyed school. More than 1,300 people were injured and many more were left homeless, aid agencies said.
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