Norbert Vollertsen on the Ryongchon Disaster
Norbert Vollertsen, who has personal knowledge of the state of North Korean medical facilities near Ryongchon, and who knows first-hand of North Korea�s lack of facilities and expertise for treating burn victims, has written in with his comments on the rail disaster there. Dr. Vollertsen, as some may know, once received a friendship medal from the North Korean government for donating a skin graft for a young North Korean girl who was severely burned.
�The nearby hospitals in Sinuiju and Ryongchon are in a desperate situation; there is no medicine, no bandage material, sometimes even no soap and running water.� He says that North Korean doctors lack the training and expertise to treat burn victims and lack even the most basic instruments and drugs. He believes they are critically short of disinfectant, pain killers, blankets, and IVs.
Dr. Vollertsen also notes the decrepit and unsafe condition of North Korean railroads. �One trip from Pyongyang to Dandong (~270 km) can take up to 2 days!� He even states, �[O]ne of our aid containers burnt out in the same railroad station.�
In his message, Dr. Vollertsen pleads for the North Korean government to open its borders to allow outside medical assistance. He asks the North Korean regime to put aside its political differences with him and allow him to help. �[D]espite all these political and military disputes about nukes and gas-chambers, the ordinary people in Ryongchon need medical assistance right now and we will start our operation as soon as we get the OK of the North Korean government.�
Dr. Vollertsen notes that Seoul�s small community of North Korean defectors has seen a flurry of rumors about the accident. Along with the usual theories about a possible coup attempt, some have even gone so far as to describe the accident as a ploy to get more foreign aid. Another rumor is that �the high number of civilian casualties, including schoolchildren, indicates that Kim Jong-Il’s train was rescheduled and passed by the welcome ceremony at the train station.� One wonders if these rumors are a reflection of those that must be circulating inside North Korea itself.