Eleven injured after transformer & insulator exploded on subway train south of Seoul

SEOUL (AFP) - Eleven people were injured on Monday evening when a transformer and an electrical insulator exploded on a South Korean subway train just south of the capital Seoul, national news agency Yonhap said.

The explosion happened as the train was entering Geumjeong station at Gunpo, causing some of its windows to break and injuring 11 people on the platform, Yonhap reported.

"The transformer, installed on the roof of the sixth car of the train exploded... causing the insulator next to it to also explode," the agency quoted officials from train operator KORAIL as saying.

The wounded, including a 23-year-old man surnamed Kim, were taken to two nearby hospitals for treatment but most of them were found to have sustained minor scratches, Yonhap said, citing police and fire officials.

All passengers got off at Geumjeong and the train was taken out of service.

The accident happened less than three weeks after two subway trains collided in Seoul, lightly injuring 200 people.

The May 2 accident was blamed on a malfunctioning automatic stopping system.

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