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200 believed to be dead in collapse at Punggye-ri nuclear site in North Korea

The incident reportedly took place on October 10.

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This handout picture obtained on April 13, 2017 from French space agency Centre national d'etudes spatiales (CNES - National Centre for Space Studies), Airbus Defense and Space and the 38 North analysis group, shows a satellite image taken on April 12, 2017 of North Korea's Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.
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A tunnel has collapsed at Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea has reportedly killed around 200 people, according to media reports.

It is believed that 100 people were trapped by a first collapse and another 100 got stuck during a second unsuccessful rescue operation, Japanese station TV Asahi reported.

The incident reportedly took place on October 10 and comes among an escalated war of words between Washington and Pyongang. 

There are fears of a massive radioactive leak which could spark a Chernobylsque disaster. A South Korean news agency said that the collapse happened during the construction of an underground tunnel.

Another report claimed that the incident was caused by Kim Jong-un’s sixth nuclear test on March 3, which weakened the mountain.

The building of tunnels is reportedly an attempt to move the test site to another part of the mountain. Scientists worry that a collapse could trigger a radiation leak.

In September, the country’s FM Ri Yong Ho told reporters this Jong Un might be planning to conduct an unprecedented scale hydrogen bomb.

The latest test - the sixth at the site since 2006 - triggered landslides in the detonation area and beyond, according to satellite pictures taken the day after.

The images published by the 38 North website showed changes in the surface at Punggye-ri where the ground had been lifted into the air by the tremors. Small landslides followed the course of stream beds.

The blast caused a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey, followed a few minutes later by another with a magnitude of 4.1.


Japan assessed the yield from the test of what the North said was a hydrogen bomb at 120 kilotons, eight times the size of Hiroshima in 1945.
It is very unusual for North Korea to acknowledge any major accident, especially anything that involves its nuclear programme.

Lee Eugene, a spokeswoman at South Korea's unification ministry, said: "We are aware of the report but do not know anything about it."
The report came ahead of US President Donald Trump's first presidential visit to South Korea next week amid an escalating war of words between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The reclusive country has made significant strides in its atomic and missile technology under Kim, who took power after the death of his father and longtime ruler Kim Jong-Il in 2011.
Since then he has overseen four of the country's six nuclear tests and hailed atomic weapons as a "treasured sword" to protect the nation from invasion by the United States.

The incident comes amongst a raised level of aggression between US and North Korea. In September, US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and leader Kim Jong Un "won't be around much longer" if Ri echoed the thoughts of "Little Rocket Man", an apparent reference to Kim.

Ri told the United Nations General Assembly earlier that targeting the U.S. mainland with its rockets was inevitable after 'Mr. Evil President' Donald Trump called Pyongyang's leader "rocket man".

"Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at UN If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!" Trump tweeted.

Ri's speech at UN capped a week of rising tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, with Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un trading insults. Trump called Kim a 'madman' on Friday, a day after Kim dubbed him a "mentally deranged US dotard."

With inputs from agencies 

 

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