Around 100 people were killed when when an unfinished tunnel collapsed at North Korea’s Punggye-ri facility.
Another group of around 100 people subsequently died while attempting to rescue the entombed workers.
The disaster was revealed by Japan’s TV Asahi today, although they could not clarify when the accident and subsequent doomed rescue attempts took place.
Punggye-ri was the site of North Korea’s sixth-ever nuclear test on September 3. It is not known whether this directly or indirectly caused the collapse.
Foreign experts and human rights activists had warned this month, however, of the danger of despot Kim Jong-un’s crumbling facilities.
On Monday South Korea warned another nuclear test at the site could lead to a total collapse of the mountain facility, causing a deadly leak of radioactive materials.
And China also issued a dire warning to Kim regarding the state of the nuclear testing site.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Geology and Geophysics warned: “China cannot sit and wait until the site implodes. Our instruments can detect nuclear fallout when it arrives, but it will be too late by then.
“There will be public panic and anger at the government for not taking action.”
This is a developing story, more to follow…