Train death toll reaches 154

At least 154 people were confirmed dead in the explosion of a North Korean train, China’s official state news agency said today in the first bulletin datelined from the scene of the disaster.

The dead included at least 76 students, the Xinhua News Agency said in the dispatch datelined Ryongchon, the site of the blast on Thursday.

The one-sentence report cited a senior North Korean rescue official and didn’t say how old the students were or give other details.

Xinhua didn’t say how its reporter had reached Ryongchon.

Xinhua is one of a handful of foreign news organisations that are allowed to maintain bureaux in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, but the North tightly controls the movement of all foreigners.