By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

South Korea on Friday offered to help rescue efforts for the victims of the recent train accident in North Korea, which reportedly killed at least 54 and injured a thousand more.

Acting President Goh Kun ordered officials to prepare measures to aid the North, offering his condolences to the victims of the disaster.

``We offer our consolation to North Koreans,’’ Goh was quoted as saying by his spokesman.

News agencies initially reported up to 3,000 people fell victim to the massive explosion which occurred on Thursday afternoon at Ryongchon station about 50 kilometers from the Chinese border.

An official of the International Red Cross in Beijing later readjusted the number of victims, saying at least 54 people died and another 1,249 were injured.

The train disaster occurred just nine hours after a special train carrying the reclusive North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, had passed through the area. Kim was on his way back to Pyongyang from a rare, secretive trip to Beijing.

Sources said the blast destroyed 1,850 households and administrative buildings and spewed debris for miles, severely damaging everything within a 1-kilometer radius of the station.

Seoul and Washington confirmed the catastrophic accident, as the North has not immediately reported on it.

``There clearly was a huge explosion there,’’ South Korea’s Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said in a press briefing.

He denied the allegation that the accident might have been an attempt to assassinate the North Korean leader. ``There is little such possibility, given the timing and other circumstances.’’

Jeong added, more details will likely be available when South’s Korean National Red Cross president Lee Yoon-gu, who is currently in Pyongyang for talks on inter-Korean economic cooperation, returns home today.

China’s only official comment on the accident, posted on its Foreign Ministry Web site, said one Chinese resident had been killed and 12 injured.

A Chinese doctor at a major hospital in the border city of Dandung said staff were gearing up for a flood of patients. But North Korean officials reportedly wanted Chinese doctors to come to the accident site.

Aid agencies and neighboring countries are preparing to provide help if asked.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr