Iri station explosion

The Iri station explosion was a disaster that occurred in Iri, North Jeolla, South Korea on November 11, 1977, at 9:15 p.m. About 40 tons of dynamite carried in a freight train Gwangju exploded at Iri station. The town and train station have both been rechristened as Iksan. At least 56 people were killed.[1]

Iri station explosion
DateNovember 11, 1977 (1977-11-11)
LocationIri, North Jeolla, South Korea
TypeMunitions explosion
Deaths56–59
Non-fatal injuries185

Damage

Deaths and injuries

The explosion killed 59 people and seriously injured 185 others;[2] altogether, over 1,300 people were injured. At the time, the population of Iri numbered around 130,000 people.[3]

Infrastructure and property

The force of the explosion carved a crater ten meters deep and thirty meters wide. Most structures within a 500-meter radius from the site of the explosion were severely damaged. Approximately 9,500 buildings were affected by the explosion, which left about 10,000 people without a home. Residential apartment buildings, the city's first, were constructed to accommodate the displaced.[3]

Financial and political costs

Financial damage was extensive; property losses alone were estimated to be ₩23 billion won;[4] the government allocated ₩13 billion won for the recovery effort.[5][6]

Transportation Minister Choi Kyung-rok resigned soon thereafter.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Huge Explosion Reportedly Kills Scores in N. Korea Border Town". Reuters. November 3, 1991. Retrieved July 6, 2019. The news agency said the explosion was much more powerful than a blast in the southern South Korean city of Iri in 1977 when a freight train carrying dynamite blew up, killing 56 people and injuring 1,300.
  2. "Emergency Management in Korea: Just Started, but Rapidly Evolving Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine." Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved on July 12, 2011.
  3. Han, Sungjoo (January 1978). "South Korea 1977: Preparing for Self-Reliance". Asian Survey. 18 (1): 45–57 [53]. doi:10.2307/2643183. JSTOR 2643183.
  4. 철도주요연표 (in Korean). 한국철도공사. 2010. p. 203.
  5. In 1977 wons.
  6. Sellar, Gord (17 July 2008). "The Iri Yeok Explosion, and the Iksan Landfill Crisis". Who’s Complaining in Korea. Retrieved 12 July 2012.

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