Relatives' anger over subway fire probe

As the death toll from the South Korea subway arson attack rose to at least 125 today, relatives of the victims have expressed anger at the official response to the tragedy.

Investigators in Daegu were today still gauging the human toll of the blaze. Only 27 of the dead – many of them burned beyond recognition – had been identified, and officials feared that more of the 145 hurt could still die of their injuries.

The tragedy occurred yesterday when a man with a history of mental illness set off an explosion in a subway car, sparking an inferno that engulfed two trains and killed at least 125 people.

Today Kang Mee-ja gazed at the wrecked subway car that held the scorched bones of her mother, and wept bitter tears of frustration.

“The government is not hurrying up with the investigation,” Kang cried as she and other family members looked at the remains of cars. “As her daughter, I just want to bury her quickly.”

Authorities counted 314 people as still reported missing, but they said the number was greatly inflated by double reports and the enduring confusion over the identities of the dead.

“We have a lot of people reported missing, but that doesn’t mean that all of them were killed yesterday. People just report their family members who did not return home,” said Koo Bon-kun, an official at the Central Disaster Centre.

Attention has now focused on the actions of subway officials, who were being interrogated by police.

Many asked why a second train was permitted to arrive at the station minutes after the first train erupted in flames.

One officer said the fire crippled the subway communication system, and authorities apparently could not warn the second train – which accounted for most of the deaths.

Critics said the tragedy revealed holes in the nation’s emergency response system and a potential vulnerability to terrorist attacks.

“We call for a thorough investigation of whether subway authorities failed to respond quickly and properly when the fire first broke out,” the Joongang Ilbo newspaper said, urging the government to tighten security in the subway system.

The system carries 6.5 million passengers a day.

Forensic experts have begun the grim task of gathering scorched bodies and blackened bones for identification. Family members of the missing were permitted to look at the wreckage, which had been towed to a train depot on the outskirts of Daegu.

Teams made a final search for victims in the subway station where the attack happened.

“Because people could have hidden to escape the smoke, last night we did a final search but we have found nothing,” Daegu Mayor Cho Hae-nyoung told reporters today.

The estimates of the death toll were erratic in the chaotic hours after the attack, with different agencies often giving widely varying numbers for the dead and missing.

The confusion continued today. The provisional death toll – the 53 confirmed dead and an estimated 72 bodies found on one of the destroyed trains – was 125.

But an investigator at the depot where the train was being examined said that officials would not be able to give a number for the bodies still in the charred carriages for some time. When asked about the figure of 72 on the train, Jung Nak-eun of the National Institute for Scientific Investigation shrugged.

“That figure didn’t come from us,” he told reporters.

Firefighters said many bodies were found on the subway stairs, where people apparently suffocated as they tried to escape. On the platform and in the trains were the ashen bones of those trapped in the flames. One man said his missing daughter called by mobile phone to say there was a fire and the subway door wasn’t opening.

Police were interrogating Kim Dae-han, 56, who witnesses said used a cigarette lighter to light a container filled with petrol or another flammable liquid. Some passengers tried in vain to stop him.

The suspect was in a hospital with light burns. Police said he refused to answer questions and spoke incoherently. He worked as lorry driver and had once threatened to burn down a hospital where he had received unsatisfactory treatment, local media reported, quoting relatives.

In the meantime, the relatives of victims struggled to come to terms with their grief.

Jung In-ho said his 21-year-old daughter called her mother in a panic as the fire spread through the train and the cars filled with deadly smoke. He held up his mobile phone, saying he still calls his daughter’s number even though he knows she’s gone.

“I feel like she’s going to pick up the phone any minute,” he said.