A catastrophic train accident in North Korea was caused by a collision of fuel-laden trains and there may be “a large number of people killed or injured”, South Korea’s Unification Minister said today.

North Korea was maintaining its cloak of silence today over the crash between two North Korean fuel trains that is believed to have killed or injured as many as 3,000 people.

SOME 3,000 people were dead or injured after two trains carrying fuel collided and exploded at a North Korean railway station near the Chinese border yesterday.

North Korea declared a state of emergency tonight after as many as 3,000 people were killed or injured when two fuel trains collided and exploded at a station near the Chinese border.

A state of emergency was declared in North Korea after two trains carrying highly inflammable freight collided and exploded, killing or injuring up to 3,000 people.