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North Korea Train Station Explosion

Pyongyang asks the West for help; the segregation of Mexican Americans in the US; Easter for Christians in 1980s Moscow; and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

An explosion at a train station in North Korea killed around 170 people and destroyed thousands of homes in April 2004. In a rare moment of openness, authorities in Pyongyang asked the United Nations for help. Hear from a Western aid worker who travelled to Ryongchon to assess the damage.

Also on the programme: the 1940s legal challenge to the segregation of Mexican Americans in the US; Easter for Christians in 1980s Moscow; the push by Polish union Solidarity for legal recognition; plus the unfolding drama of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.

Photo: North Koreans clear rubble after the Ryongchon train explosion. Credit: Gerald Bourke/World Food Programme/Getty Images

50 minutes

Last on

Sun 20 Apr 2014 01:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 19 Apr 2014 19:06GMT
  • Sun 20 Apr 2014 01:06GMT

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