Explosion at Seoul Station

[Monty]

From The Korea Herald web site:

Police are investigating two explosions at Seoul Station and Gangnam Express Bus Terminal about 30 minutes apart on Thursday.

There have been no reports of injuries yet from the two blasts, officials said.

The explosions caused chaos with citizens hurriedly leaving the two public transportation hubs. Police have not ruled out the possibility of terrorism, officials said.

The blast at the bus terminal in southern Seoul occurred around 11:55 a.m. What is presumed to have been a can of butane gas exploded in a locker in the waiting room at the terminal, police said.

“There was the sound of an explosion. Smoke and flames were seen coming out of the locker. People were trying to put out the blaze with fire extinguishers. After opening the door, there was a can of butane gas connected to an electrical wire,” one of the shop keepers in the area told reporters.

Another blast at Seoul Station in central Seoul occurred at around 11:22 a.m. Police arrived at the site after they were informed that there was smoke billowing from a locker in the waiting room at the station. They found a burned backpack and what is presumed to be a can of butane gas, officials said.

More at the link.

Seoul Station is located here (at A; click on the hyperlink to the right of the circled letter) and Gangnam Express Bus Terminal is located about 7 km away here (at A and B; click on the hyperlink to the right of the circled letter). Here is an image of just part of the waiting room at Seoul Station–the place is huge.

I just saw on YTN’s 5:00 a.m. news report coverage of the explosions. Heavily armed police are now patrolling both locations. These police officers are outfitted just like the officers who patrol the international airport in Incheon.

The lockers at Seoul Station aren’t the old “slam your stuff in and take the key” type. A few years ago, those lockers were replaced with a computerized type that requires a fingerprint scan to use. I haven’t used one in a couple of years so I don’t recall if you must scan your fingerprint first or after you place your belongings in a locker. The article and the news report both mentioned that there is CCTV footage of someone placing something in the locker at Seoul Station.

[Monty]

I should also mention that “butane gas containers” aren’t rare here, either. They’re widely used for portable/camping gas stoves such as this one.

[Monty]

Arrests made in the case:

Police said Sunday they have arrested three men on suspicion of triggering a string of explosions involving what appeared to be butane gas that struck two major Seoul transportation hubs.

Police took custody of the three separately on Saturday. The men are suspected of placing privately made explosives inside lockers set up at Seoul Station in the central part of the capital and Seoul Express Bus Terminal in the southern part of the city on Thursday, police said.

More at link.

[flatlined]

If you want outrage, mine is happening now. My words are better suited for the Pit, tho. Deletes a lot of bad words.

From what I got from the links, innocent people weren’t hurt. More bad words happening. Fucking cowards might included.

[Nava]

It’s the kind of thing that I’ll never understand… how is hurting or killing a bunch of people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time supposed to make anything better?

[Monty]

Actually nobody was hurt. Evidently, the three morons-in-question are also incompetent morons. The alleged reason for the explosions? According to the article linked above regarding the arrests, the “mastermind” was attempting to manipulate the stock market here.

Mods: Feel free to move this to the Pit. I think I agree with flatliner that it might be better suited for that forum.

[Ferret_Herder]

@Monty

Actually nobody was hurt. Evidently, the three morons-in-question are also incompetent morons. The alleged reason for the explosions? According to the article linked above regarding the arrests, the “mastermind” was attempting to manipulate the stock market here.

Thank goodness for idiocy, then. It’s nice when the system asks a criminal to leave a fingerprint behind and they say “OK!”

[Nava]

@Monty

Actually nobody was hurt. Evidently, the three morons-in-question are also incompetent morons.

Right, but nobody got hurt because those three are morons, yet not stupid enough to blow themselves up. Their intent wasn’t to make pretty lights.