Dancheon train disaster

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The Dancheon train disaster was a derailment that took place in North Korea and is reported to have resulted in 400 deaths.

On December 26, 2023, a passenger train departed Pyongyang bound for Geumgol.^[1] The train was carrying nine coaches; the first coaches immediately behind the engine were for upper-class transport only, consisting of government officials. The rear nine coaches were for regular citizens and lower class workers. On this date, the majority of the passengers were workers heading for the Komdok mines.^[2]

The train had just pulled departed from Tanchon Station. The next leg of the journey would require the train to climb up a steep section of track. The train itself was electric and its power source came from the overhead wires that supplied energy to the engine.^[3]

As the train climbed up the hill, a sudden power surge caused the train to lose all power, then to start rolling backwards, going downhill. The engine had now become a runaway train as the brakes could not be activated. At a curve, the last seven train cars derailed, with the upper-class coaches, as well as the main engine, remaining on the tracks undamaged. 400 people died in the accident. Survivors were taken to a hospital in Dancheon.^[2]