The first batch of relief goodsoffered by the Russian government has arrived, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.

A Russian plane loaded with the relief goods landed in Pyongyang on Tuesday, KCNA said.

The relief goods, worth 13,600,000 rubles (about 500,000 US dollars), included medicines, tents and blankets, it said.

Valery Shuikov, director of the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, has handed over the aid to Ri Yong-sok, vice-chairman of the Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

A massive blast occurred Thursday noon at the Ryongchon railway station in DPRK's North Phyongan province after an oil tanker collided with a train loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer during the shunting of wagons.

At least 161 people were killed and more than 1,300 injured in the explosion. The DPRK has put the damage estimate at 300 million euros.

Source: Xinhua