Koreans Mourn Subway Fire Victims

Seoul, Feb. 19 2003 (VOA News) -- South Koreans are mourning the deaths of more than 120 people Tuesday in a deadly subway arson attack. The families of the victims are growing angry at the pace of identifying their relatives.

The city of Daegu has declared a five-day state of mourning following the fire Tuesday in its subway system. South Korean television ran hours of reports on the disaster, and newspapers are filled with stories and photographs.

South Korea's president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, has scaled down plans for his inauguration next week, canceling some events and adopting a more somber tone for others, to reflect the nation's grief.

Authorities says it could take months to identify the dozens of dead. Many bodies were badly burned, making identification extremely difficult. Approximately 135 other people were injured.

An inferno swept through two crowded subway trains Tuesday, shortly after the morning rush hour in Daegu, South Korea's third-largest city.

Officials believe it was started by a former mental patient who tossed a milk carton filled with flammable liquid into a subway car and set it alight. The suspect survived and is hospitalized with moderate injuries.

Frantic relatives have spent the past day searching for their loved ones at hospitals and morgues.

This man says he can not describe what he is feeling. He says his family is broken, two family members are gone.

Many relatives say the government is moving too slowly to identify victims and locate the missing. Television reports have shown relatives angrily confronting officials, demanding answers.

Police and medical personnel are also trying to find more than 300 people listed as missing. Officials say that number is probably inflated, with some names listed more than once.

Many people in South Korea are demanding to know how a small fire so quickly became a major disaster. Some news reports say the incident shows that South Korea is ill prepared to handle a terrorist attack or similar emergencies.

-- Kate Pound Dawson - Voice of America in Seoul

-- Reprinted with the permission of Voice of America