In a bizarre incident on Tuesday, at least 35 people were killed and 135 hurt in the South Korean city of Daegu, when a man ignited a blaze in a subway car using a milk cartoon filled with inflammable material.
Media reports said 100 bodies were inside the burnt train cars, while firefighters said 87 people have been declared missing so far. Authorities said the fire was put out by 0930 IST, three hours after the blaze started.
Television news channel YTN and Yonhap news agency said 12 maintenance workers appeared to be still trapped underground. The injured have been rushed to nearby hospitals. Officials said the condition of the injured was not known, though YTN said 12 of the injured were in serious condition.
The police have arrested a suspect, Kim Dae-han (46), for the arson attack, but did not know what motivated the attack or whether there were any survivors still trapped in the subway.
Witnesses said carried Kim carried a milk carton filled with inflammable material into a subway. "When the man tried to use a cigarette lighter to light the box, some passengers tried to stop him. Apparently a scuffle erupted and the box exploded into flames," a police officer was seen saying on a YTN news programme.
Daegu, 320 km off Seoul, was one of the 10 World Cup soccer venues last year and is the third largest city in South Korea with a population of 2.5 million. The city is also a venue for this year's World University Games on August 21-31.
