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LONDON — Senior North Korean officials were paraded on state television Sunday to make a rare public apology for an “unimaginable” accident at an apartment construction site that is believed to have killed hundreds of people.

Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, “sat up all night, feeling painful” after being told about the accident, the state-run KCNA news agency reported, adding that the builders had broken construction rules.

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North Korea’s virtually bankrupt communist system sets great propaganda store in the construction of new buildings. State television trumpets graphics of skyscrapers being erected in Pyongyang and elsewhere.

Such is the desperation of the system, however, many families move into unfinished buildings in the hope of securing residency rights.

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The KCNA report appears to acknowledge that the building was being informally occupied.

South Korean officials said the incident involved the collapse of a 23-storey apartment block in Pyongyang’s Pyongchon district. The accident happened last Tuesday and was the result of “irresponsible” supervision by officials in charge of construction.