] . . . serious train accidents are normal in North Korea and
] the various explanations for the cause of the explosion,
] other than an assassination attempt, sound plausible
] given the perilous state of the economy.
]
] In the 1960s Kim Il-Sung decided to phase out steam
] engines. Ignoring expert advice, he ordered that the
] country's railways be entirely electrified so that even
] if oil imports were blocked, the transport system would
] still operate.
]
] The transmission lines were buried underground to ensure
] that the enemy could not destroy the electricity grid.
] The grid has disintegrated into islands and there is
] never enough power to run the trains.
]
] The Russian and South Korean governments, who wanted to
] restore the North's railway system and move goods from
] the Pacific to the Atlantic, found that it would cost
] over $3bn (£1.7bn) to upgrade the rail system to
] transport goods in any quantities.
]
] The trains depend on hydro power, but most of the
] country's dams have silted up and electricity generation
] is sporadic. Passengers sometimes need weeks to complete
] a train journey, even between major cities. At every
] station there are always hundreds of people waiting in
] hopes of getting on a train.
]
] Refugees reported that in one incident an overcrowded
] train travelling to Hysean suddenly lost power going up a
] hill and slipped back, crashing into another train,
] killing or injuring more than 3,000 people.

More stories of the insanity in North Korea. The latest speculation, according to the article, is that the explosion was caused by a train full of explosives that accidentally got tangled with power lines.

According to the article, the explosion levelled the train station, a school, and apartments within a 457-metre radius. The statistics are currently reported as: 150 dead, 12,249 injured, 1,850 households destroyed and another 6,350 homes partly destroyed in the town, which has a population of 20,000.

Jeez.