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At least 36 people have died in a bus crash in North Korea , according to Chinese officials who described it as a “major traffic accident”.
Among the dead were 32 Chinese tourists and four North Koreans, China 's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Another two Chinese tourists were badly injured and were in “acutely serious condition”, it added.
A Chinese medical team accompanied by diplomats to assist the North Korean side, it said.
Footage on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the mangled wreckage of a blue bus in the dark with rain falling. Rescue vehicles were on the scene, and the injured were shown being treated in a hospital.
In a Twitter post, the channel which also broadcasts in English, said a tour bus had fallen off a bridge, killing more than 30 people, but it later deleted the message.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the accident happened in in North Hwanghae province, south of North Korean capital Pyongyang .
The four North Koreans who died were described as “workers". The secretive communist state requires that all visitors are accompanied by minders and it is thought this was the case with those who were killed.
Other details about those killed and injured and the circumstances of the accident were not immediately disclosed.
The countries share a lengthy border and a friendship dating back to China’s military intervention on the side of the North in the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese borderShow all 20 1 /20North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border People have their picture taken with North Korea in the background, in Tumen, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A North Korean woman is photographed from the Chinese side of the Yalu River near the town of Changbai, China as she walks between houses in the North Korean town of Hyesan. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korean souvenirs are displayed for sale on the banks of the Yalu River in Dandong in Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive.
Reuters
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A large screen, which faces North Korea, broadcasts propaganda videos on an island on the Yalu River between North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A piece of clothing is used to make a gap in barbed wire near the closed bridge over the Yalu River on the Chinese side of the border with North Korea between towns of Ji'an and Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea showed places where it is porous.
Reuters
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A tourist uses binoculars to look across to North Korea from a tower built on the Chinese side of the border between Russia (L), China (C) and North Korea (R) near the town of Hunchun in China.
Reuters
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Women participate in a group dance exercise close to the Yalu River which runs between China and North Korea, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A sign reading, "Take the initiative to preserve order along the border," stands in a field at the border between China and North Korea just outside Dandong, Liaoning province, China.
Reuters
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A couple prepare for a wedding photography session on a boat which takes tourists on sightseeing tours from the Chinese side of the Yalu River, close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Tourists travel on a boat taking them from the Chinese side of the Yalu River for sightseeing close to the shores of North Korea, near Dandong, Liaoning province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Women walk across a bridge from an island on the Yalu River, dividing North Korea and China, in the town of Linjiang in Jilin province, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A North Korean soldier and locals are photographed from the Chinese side of the border north of Dandong, China as they stand on the banks of the Yalu River, north of Sinuiju, North Korea. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korean girls are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they collect water from the frozen Yalu River near Linjiang, China. A week-long road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea revealed stark contrasts between China's bright towns and North Korea's dark villages.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border A man looks through binoculars towards North Korea on the Broken Bridge over the Yalu River that connects the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand next to the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Korean fishermen are seen as a Chinese flag flutters from the Broken Bridge as the sun sets over the Yalu River between the North Korean town of Sinuiju and Dandong in Liaoning Province, China. In the Chinese city of Dandong, signs of neighbouring North Korea are pervasive.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border North Koreans are photographed from the Chinese side of the border as they stand in the freezing Yalu River near the town of Linjiang, China. On a road trip along China's side of its border with North Korea, reporters found a group of North Koreans diving in the Yalu river who the Chinese locals said were searching for gold.
REUTERS
North Korea: A road trip on the edge of the Chinese border Women, photographed from the Chinese side of the border, are seen through binoculars fixed on a building on the Chinese side of the border for sightseers to look across to North Korea, as they cross the bridge from Namyang in North Korea towards the town of Tumen in China,
Reuters
China remains Pyongyang’s largest trading partner, although commerce between the two nations has dropped off by about 90 per cent under United Nations sanctions.
Chinese tourists are among the largest groups of visitors to the isolated state, where they often pay homage at sites related to China’s participation in the war.
Visitors from the country make up about 80 percent of all foreign tourists to North Korea, according to South Korean think-tank the Korea Maritime Institute, which estimates that tourism generates revenue of about $44m (£31m) each year.
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