The Iri station explosion (裡里驛爆發事故, Iri station explosion) was a large train explosion that occurred at 9:15 p.m. on 11 November 1977 at Iri Station (now Iksan Station) in Iri City (now Jeonbuk State Iksan), Jeollabuk-do. Together with the Gupo train derailment of 28 March 1993, it is regarded as the worst railway accident in South Korea and one of the worst accidents in Jeollabuk-do.
Cause of the accident
Freight train No. 1605, belonging to Korea Explosives (the predecessor of Hanwha) and bound for Gwangju, was waiting to depart from Iri Station with 40 tons of high-power explosives, including dynamite and electric detonators, and no official person in charge. The train exploded while waiting.1
According to an announcement by investigating authorities at the time, Shin Mu-il, an employee of Korea Explosives responsible for escorting the cargo, tried to keep the train moving without stopping. However, he was stopped at Iri Station, and the station staff demanded an "express fee" from him. At that time, the custom was that a train that wanted to pass through a station without stopping had to pay the station a fee. Shin, however, had no money, and for this reason he was held up at Iri Station. That night, after Shin fell asleep after drinking alcohol, he lit a candle to ward off the cold, and the candle fell toward the dynamite, which was the cause. In principle, when a single-track line was crossed by another train, explosive and chemical freight cars were given priority over passenger trains (including the superior Saemaeul-ho trains), and hazardous materials such as explosives were to be sent straight through without being held in any signal station, signal post, halt, or indeed any railway station. This safety rule had been ignored.2
Scale of the explosion and damage
The explosion caused enormous loss of life and property.
Due to the shock wave of the powerful explosion, a huge crater 30 m in diameter and 10 m deep was dug directly below the site of the blast, and debris flew as far as in front of Iri City Hall. Within a radius of 500 m of Iri Station, about 9,500 buildings, most of the structures in the area, were destroyed, creating 9,973 displaced persons. The dead numbered 59, and 1,343 were injured. Among them, 16 railway workers died in the line of duty, and 1,647 households, comprising more than 7,800 people, became displaced.
Damage to railway facilities was also severe. The Iri Station building, as well as buildings such as the district passenger and freight office and the track maintenance office, suffered serious cracks or collapse. Five locomotives, four electric railcars, 74 freight cars, 21 passenger cars, and one crane were badly damaged. A 130 m section of the Honam Line and a 240 m section of the Jeolla Line passing through Iri Station were destroyed, causing total property damage of more than 2.3 billion won.34
The Iksan County Office building, then located in Changin-dong, Iri City (now Changin-dong, Iksan City), developed serious cracks from the vibrations, and in 1979 Iksan County moved to Hamyeol-eup, Iksan County (now Hamyeol-eup, Iksan City). In addition, part of the Namseong High School building, located in front of Iri High School, collapsed. The school moved to Sindong, Iksan City, and Namseong Mansion apartments were built on the original site.
Vibrations were also felt in Osan-myeon, Hwangdeung-myeon, and Samgi-myeon of Iksan County, which border Iri City, and in Baekgu-myeon of Gimje County. Reports of explosion sounds also came in from Gunsan City, about 30 km away.
A train heading to Iri Station with 600 passengers stopped at Gimje station. However, the engineer lost the pass ticket he was required to carry to travel through that section, so the train could not move after stopping. At this time, a station employee at Iri Station called Hamyeol Station and urgently pleaded that the train must not come. Because of this, the 600 passengers on that train survived, but that station employee died in the explosion.
Other
- Comedian Lee Ju-il, who was unknown at the time of the incident and is now deceased, rescued singer Ha Chun-hwa and became famous. Ha Chun-hwa was performing at a theater not far from Iri Station when the accident happened, and the theater collapsed. Lee Ju-il carried Ha on his back and ran to a hospital. Ha suffered only scrapes, whereas Lee suffered a serious injury, a depressed skull fracture, and was hospitalized for a long time.5
- The novel <Gichan-gil yeop dongne 1> (Village Beside the Railway Tracks 1) records the Iri station explosion accident.6
- To house residents whose homes were destroyed in this accident, the Mohyeon Jugong Apartments were built in Mohyeon-dong, northwest of Iri Station. These were the first Jugong apartments in Iri City. They were demolished for redevelopment in 2010, and Daelim Industrial rebuilt the site as the e-Pyeonhan Sesang apartments, which were occupied in December 2012.78
- At the very time of this accident, the seventh match of the 1978 FIFA World Cup Asian and Oceanian Zone Final Qualification between South Korea and Iran was being played. The result was a 2–2 draw, and as a result South Korea failed to reach the finals regardless of the outcome of its final match against Hong Kong, and Iran advanced to the finals. However, Iran was eliminated in the group stage, pushed out by Peru and the Netherlands. Peru suffered a 0–6 heavy defeat to host nation Argentina in the second round, and the Netherlands reached the final and took second place behind Argentina.
Arrest of the perpetrator
Shin Mu-il, a 36-year-old Korea Explosives employee who was in charge of escorting the explosives on the train, drank alcohol, fell asleep, and lit a candle to ward off the cold, which then fell toward the dynamite. Taking this into account, the court ruled that Shin was responsible. In February 1978, Shin was sentenced to ten years in prison and served the sentence.9
Two Iri Station employees who demanded the express fee from Shin, which became one of the fundamental causes of the accident, received sentences of ten months in prison.
Footnotes