The Chinese Embassy to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday confirmed that two Chinese were killed and 12 others injured in a train explosion Thursday in Ryongchon, North Pyong'an province of DPRK.

Map of North Korea indicating Ryongchon, where a blast at a railway station is said to have left 3,000 people dead or injured.(China Daily/AFP)

Among the 12 injured Chinese, two sustained serious injuries and the rest 10 were lightly wounded.

Twenty Chinese houses have collapsed and three Chinese houses were blown down in the train explosion.

So far, the DPRK authorities has yet to confirm the train explosion.

Earlier on Friday, South Korean officials said a large explosion occurred near a train station in the northwest of the DPRK on Thursday afternoon, killing or injuring up to 3,000 people,the Yohap news agency said.

"We've obtained the information that there was a large explosion near Ryongchon Station," a South Korean defense ministryofficial told the Yohap news agency. "We have yet to find out the cause of the incident, the kind of explosion and how many died."

The entire area "was turned into ruins comparable to the aftermath of a massive bombing," witnesses were quoted as saying.

The accident occurred when two trains carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas collided and exploded in Ryongchon, a townabout 20 km south of the border with China.

DPRK authorities declared a state of emergency in the area after the explosion, and the investigation of the cause is underway, Yonhap said.

Major rail accidents in recent 20 years

Source: Xinhua