Accessibility links

Breaking News

200 Injured in Seoul Train Collision


Passengers on the opposite side look at a damaged subway train as workers check it at a subway station in Seoul, May 2, 2014.
Passengers on the opposite side look at a damaged subway train as workers check it at a subway station in Seoul, May 2, 2014.
Authorities in South Korea's capital, Seoul, say a subway train has crashed into another train, injuring about 200 people, none seriously.
Sangwangsimni Station, Seoul, South Korea.
Sangwangsimni Station, Seoul, South Korea.
Officials say Friday's accident occurred near the Sangwangsimni station in the east of the city.

One of the cars derailed when a train crashed into the back of another that had stopped at the station. Officials said the crash was likely due to a signal failure and that two subway cars had derailed.

Around 1,000 people were evacuated. Most passengers had minor cuts, bruises and pain, with one person suffering a fracture.

YTN television reported that many of the injures occurred when passengers jumped off the trains to walk a short distance to the nearby station. Witnesses said an announcement initially told passengers to stay inside the train, but most passengers ignored it, forced the doors open and jumped down to the tracks.

South Korea is still reeling from the April 16 ferry sinking that left some 300 people dead or missing, most of them high school students.

Seoul's subway system carries more than 4.5 million passengers a day.
  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG