‘3,000 feared dead or injured in N Korea rail blast’

The Yonhap report of the state-of-emergency declaration gave no details. It said officials of the secretive N Korean government had put in place a ‘‘type of state of emergency’’ around Ryongchon. In a sign of the accident’s magnitude, the government cut international phone lines to prevent news of the crash from leaking across its borders, Yonhap said, citing no sources.

The North’s creaking medical system would be hard pressed to cope with a large number of casualties, but there was no word any international agency or neigbouring country had been asked for help. ‘‘We have not yet received official information on the accident. We are trying to confirm,’’ the Unification Ministry said.

Yonhap, quoting witnesses in the Chinese city of Dandong, said the explosion occurred about 1 pm at Ryongchon.

YTN, citing an unnamed South Korean government official, said Seoul had confirmed a huge explosion in the Ryongchon train station. The official told YTN he believed the incident was an accident, not politically motivated. The Defense Ministry could not comment, and the Foreign Ministry couldn’t immediately be reached.

‘‘We are aware of the news reports, but we will not make any comments at this stage,’’ said a spokesman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

YTN reported that the causalities included Chinese living in the North Korean border region, and that Chinese in Dandong a bustling industrial city on Yalu river were desperate to learn about their relatives. Some of the injured were evacuated to hospitals in Dandong, it said.