50 Middle Schoolers Killed in Bus Crash

On May 24th, 50 students from the prestigious “Pyongyang No.1 Middle School” died in an accident on the way to Songdowon on the East Sea coast of North Korea, Dong-A Ilbo reported on July 29th. The students were traveling through the mountainous Masik Pass in Gangwon Province when their bus overturned, killing all those aboard.

Citing an inside source, the report claims that the 3rd-year students were headed to the newly renovated Songdowon International Children’s Camp via a detour off the Pyongyang-Wonsan Highway. A lack of seat belts was cited as one catalyst for the high death toll.

The source claimed that a number of the students killed were the children of senior officials in North Korea, though no names or ranks were provided. Pyongyang No.1 Middle School, formerly Namsan Senior Middle School, was famously attended by Kim Jong Il and is the premiere institution for secondary study in North Korea.


The timing of the bus incident came just eleven days after the tragic collapse of an apartment complex in Pyongyang. It is also allegedly the second serious bus accident this year, following another on the way to Masikryong Ski Resort in January that saw 30 lose their lives.

Last May, Kim Jong Eun announced plans to make the facilities at Songdowon among the best in the world, and directed military units to remodel them, a process that began in November.

Paying a visit to the location upon the completion of the refurbished facilities in April, Kim said, “We are struggling, regarding our trouble as pleasure, in order to enable our children and people to live with nothing to desire more in the world and the slogan helps us undertake any difficult job with pleasure.” He went on to add that all the buildings are beautiful as they “reflect the Party’s outlook on the rising generation and the camp looks like the best hotel and palace for children in the world.”