Aid group reports 110 North Koreans killed in explosion

June 19, 2007

A South Korean aid agency reports that 110 North Korean villagers died in an explosion while trying to scavenge fuel from a cracked pipeline 10 days ago.

The incident occurred in North Pyongan Province on June 9 when one of the villagers lit a match near a cracked segment of the pipeline, setting off fuel vapours.

"Informed sources told us that about 110 people were killed in the blast," Noh Oh-jae, an official for the group Good Friends, said.

The National Intelligence Service in South Korea says it cannot confirm the reports.