Xi stresses safety after DPRK bus crash

By ZHANG YUNBI By ZHANG YUNBI in Beijing zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn and HONG XIAO in New York President Xi Jinping has urged maximizing safety precautions to protect the lives and assets of the public in an instruction on Sun-day's fatal bus accident in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The accident in North Hwanghae province, in the southwest of the DPRK, killed 32 Chinese tourists and four DPRK citizens and left two other Chinese in critical condition.

Xi quickly issued the instruction after the acci-dent to require the Foreign Ministry and embassy in the DPRK to take all necessary measures to coordinate with DPRK authorities and effec-tively handle any issues or needs that arise.

No effort should be spared to assist the injured and deal with the aftermath involving the victims, and localities involved should take the initiative to con-sole their family members, Xi said.

Xi said great attention should be paid to the recent frequency of accidents, and with the May 1 holidays approaching, localities and departments should fully honor their safety-related duties, rule out hidden risks, boost precautions and ramp up emergency responses. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un visited the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang on Monday morning to express his con-dolences over the accident.

At a meeting with Li Jin-jun, Chinese ambassador to the DPRK, Kim expressed his deep sympathy and sin-cere solicitude on the heavy casualties, according to a statement from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kim asked Li to convey his sincere condolences to Presi-dent Xi, the Chinese Party and government, and to the victims' families. Kim also visited the injured in the hos-pital, saying the DPRK would provide full treatment and cooperate with the Chinese side.

Li thanked Kim for visiting the embassy and the hospi-tal. He also thanked the Party and state leaders and heads of relevant ministries of the DPRK, who went to the acci-dent scene to direct rescue operations.

Li emphasized that it fully demonstrated the great atten-tion the DPRK paid to help-ing address the tragedy and said that the Chinese side will closely coordinate with the DPRK in the accident's aftermath.

Premier Li Keqiang also called for an early verifica-tion of the accidents details and effective rescue and treatment.

China solemnly mourns the Chinese compatriots and DPRK citizens and offers condolences to the family members of those killed and injured, Foreign Ministry spokesman-LH-gang said at a daily news conference in Beijing on Monday.

In a release earlier on Mon-day, the ministry disclosed that Pyongyang had briefed the Chinese embassy on Sun-day night about the crash.

An embassy working group rushed to the scene of the accident, accompanied by officials from the DPRK For-eign Ministry

China's Foreign Ministry and National Health Com-mission activated their emer-gency response procedures overnight.

The National Health Com-mission selected four nation-al-level medical experts with specialties in areas such as neurosurgery and spinal injury surgery from four leading hospitals in Beijing as members of the state medi-cal experts group.

The group, led by commis-sion officials, carried needed medical equipment and med-icines and left for the DPRK on Monday, the commission said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry has sent a working group that accompanied the medical experts to the DPRK, Lu said.

They will work with the DPRK on such tasks as fur-ther rescue and recovery issues and medical treatment, Lu added.

Premier Li Keqiang has called for an early verification of the accident’s details and effective rescue and treatment.