At least 200 people have died after a tunnel collapsed at a nuclear test site in North Korea, Japanese media has claimed.



The collapse occurred on 10 October during the construction of a new underground facility at a military site in northeastern North Korea.

According to Japan's TV Asahi, up to 100 people had been initially trapped in the tunnels before a further collapse happened during efforts to rescue them, bringing the death toll up to 200.

The channel has blamed the incident on the weakening of the ground surrounding the site after North Korea carried out its sixth nuclear test there back in September.

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A Hyunmoo ballistic missile launching during a South Korea military exercise in September. Credit: PA



Despite TV Asahi's report there has not yet been official confirmation of the claims, which have apparently been made by an unnamed North Korean source.

Just yesterday, officials in the South Korean capital Seoul warned that another nuclear detonation could destroy North Korea's mountain test site and trigger a potentially deadly radiation leak.

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They warned that the site, which has been set aside by North Korea for launching nuclear missiles, would be at risk of collapse if any future nuclear test took place there.

The comments were made by South Korea's weather agency head Nam Jae-Cheol during the meeting of a parliamentary committee.

The weather agency chief was responding to a question asked by a lawmaker about whether another North Korean nuclear test could lead to such an incident taking place.





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South Korea's National Assembly Building. Credit: PA



Nam Jae-Cheol made the warning after South Korean experts detected a number of earthquakes at the nuclear test site following North Korea's sixth bomb explosion in September, the most powerful explosion yet.

They now believe that due to the blasts the ground is now too unstable for tests to take place at this particular site.

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The majority of North Korea's most recent nuclear tests have taken place under Mount Mantap at the Punggye-ri military base in North Korea's north-western region.

This site previously hosted five nuclear tests but is now believed to be suffering from 'tired mountain syndrome' after three small earthquakes were detected nearby, leading Pyongyang to sideline the site for now.

US experts warned earlier this month that while the Mount Mantap base is at risk of caving in, the North Koreans are unlikely to decide to abandon the test site completely.