Source: IFRC
Date: 30 Apr 2004


Operational Developments
It has now been slightly over one week since Thursday 22
April's powerful explosion at Ryongchon railway station located
in North Pyongan Province, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK). The explosion occurred when railway wagons, said
to be loaded with highly combustible ammonium nitrate, blew up.
The powerful blast that resonated throughout the entire town of
Ryongchon obliterated the station, and devastated the
immediately surrounding area leaving 161 people dead and some
1,300 injured. Among the dead were 76 children whose school was
levelled in the blast.
According to DPRK's Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee
(FDRC) some 1,850 homes were destroyed or rendered
uninhabitable, while a further 6,360 sustained partial damage.
Among the large number of public buildings damaged were
schools, the Ryongchon county hospital, a factory and an
agricultural college. Those families left homeless are still
temporarily housed among three temporary shelters, while some
270 families are relying on tarpaulins for shelter.

The capacity of the DPRK Red Cross with support from the
International Federation's country delegation to respond
quickly to the disaster is proof of the critical role good
disaster preparedness plays in mitigating the effects of a
crisis. This is the second time, the first being floods in
2001, that DPRK Red Cross and the International Federation were
able to provide humanitarian assistance quickly relying on the
national society's disaster preparedness centres.

Red Cross and Red Crescent action
Latest Activities as of 30 April

The overall objective of this preliminary appeal (12/2004) is
to address both the short-term and long-term needs of the
people affected by the explosion in Ryongchon county with a
three phase operation.

Phase I: Distribution of relief items from Red Cross Disaster
Preparedness Centres and other available in-country sources.

Shelter

Families and individuals who were left homeless due to the
explosion were placed in one of three temporary shelter sites
which were established following the blast. The current plan is
that these families will be relocated to share accommodations
with other county's residents whose homes are still habitable
by the end of the week.

Approximately 270 families (some 1,100 people), are staying
under make shift shelters made out of tarpaulins. The
Federation's logistics delegate visited some of the families
living in the make-shift tents on 26 and 27 April, and
interviewed some of the families. The families are facing some
hardship as the material that was in stock was not designed to
function as tents. The shelters do not protect the families
from the ground which means that many of the shelters are
sitting in mud and water as Monday was a rainy day.

According to the Ryongchon Red Cross branch there are plans to
get the families into houses in three to four days. There were
also some 30 tents besides the hospital. Families in these
tents are relying on tap water from the hospital.

All the families left homeless have received enough blankets,
water containers (with water) and food. Those people who were
staying under make shift tents have been obtaining water from
the city supply from nearby apartments or the hospital in
addition to water being distributed as part of the relief
assistance.

Water

The Federation's water and sanitation delegate conducted an
assessment of the immediate needs for water supply and
appropriate sanitation over the period 28-29 April. After
engaging in discussions with the authorities and touring the
sight, which included the county hospital, the findings are
that the immediate needs concerning these areas are not many,
and will be addressed in the rehabilitation phase.

The area that was affected by the blast was connected to the
city water supply serving approximately half the urban area.
comprising some 3,000 families or 12,000 - 15,000 people. This
water system was rendered useless in the immediate vicinity of
the blast.

In regard to immediate assistance, the International
Federation's water and sanitation delegate offered to install
several boreholes close to the affected area together with
either an onion or bladder tank. These would be fed using a
submersible pump and appropriately sized generator until the
authorities would be in a position to provide water.

The authorit ies agreed to this proposal as it will most likely
be several months before anything is implemented. If the
shallow groundwater has been contaminated then it is better to
act sooner than later to get deep boreholes installed.

The Federation water and sanitation delegate has instructed the
Red Cross water quality monitor based in Sinuiju to take water
samples from hand pumps and the city water supply. Eight
samples, as a result, were taken from which the results should
be available by next week.

The Federation should be ready to mobilise a drilling rig in co-
operation with other agencies. The Federation will work with
other agencies working in Ryongchon to support the water and
sanitation needs of the affected area, in more detail as more
information becomes available .

Distribution of Relief Items (26-27 April)

Two trucks carrying relief items arrived in Ryongchon on 27
April. The two trucks contained 4,000 blankets from Pyongyang
and 3,040 water containers from Pyongyang and Sinuiju.

The second donation consignment of Republic of Korea National
Red Cross (RoK RC) to DPRK RC by chartered air cargo plane
arrived in Pyongyang today. This includes 5,000 emergency
family packs and daily necessities.

Health

1. Ryongchon

Many of the windows and some of the walls of the 300 bed
Ryongchon county hospital were broken due to the explosion
preventing the hospital from operating at its full capacity.
After cleaning the hospital, the facility beginning 27 April is
once again admitting inpatients.

The hospital began treatin g outpatients on 27 April. Prior to
the reopening of the hospital patients were treated at a
temporary first aid post. The main problems which are being
reported are: contusions, cuts, severe burns, epileptic
symptoms and mental problems, conjunctivitis and rupture, and
rupture of ear membrane. The operating theatre is not ready to
be used and, operations are performed in the nearest industrial
hospital four km away, or patients are referred to Sinuiju
provincial hospital.

The DPRK Red Cross and Federation's distribution plan to
Ryongchon is as follows:

· 25 April: distributed relief items and eight supplementary
kits.

· 28 April: distributed 120 units of Ringer and 120 units of
glucose 5% - plan to distribute two supplementary kits to the
county hospital and one kit to the industrial hospital.

2. Sinuiju

The Federation's logistics delegate visited the Provincial
hospital and Hospital No 1 in Sinuiju on 27 April. The delegate
saw a number of patients and verified that the Federation kits
were being used. The delegate was informed that the stock would
last another 3-5 days

The DPRK Red Cross and Federation's distribution of medical
supplies and medicine is as follows:

Distributions to the Provincial hospital

28 April: The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation distributed 16
boxes of medicine from Caritas Hong Kong; eye medicine from the
WHO; and, 760 units of infusions. The plan is to distribute
more supplementary kits and infusions.

Distributions to Sinuiju City 1 hospital

25 April: The DPRK Red Cross and the Federation distributed
three supplementary kits. The current plan is to distribute two
kits and infusions on 30 April.

Distributions to Sinuiju City 2, City 3 and paediatric

The current plan is to distribute one or two kits, and
infusions to each.

Medicine and relief items from the Republic of Korea which
arrived by air on 30 April in Pyongyang are being loaded onto
trucks for immediate delivery to Sinuiju.

Coordination

An inter-agency coordination meeting is taking place on 30
April.