Smoke billows from a truck carrying Nike-Hercules missiles in a tunnel along a highway in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday. /Provided by MBC
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Military officials inspect the site where a truck loaded with missile parts caught fire in a tunnel along a highway in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province on Tuesday.
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Sure, a flat tire makes the missile explode on the truck. Tell me another one, Granma.
Other news sources are reporting this as well. Click here
I didn't see it posted.
Love that quaint phrasing... All your elderly missile components belong to us...
Missile truck explodes in South Korean tunnel
There have been a series of explosions in South Korea after a fire broke out on a military truck in a road tunnel.
Our correspondent, Shane McLeod, says a convoy of military trucks was travelling through the tunnel near Daegu when a fire started underneath one of the trucks.
That spread to missile parts on board, causing explosions, and the fire to spread to other cars in the tunnel.
Local fire officials say no-one has been injured, but up to 50 other vehicles have been trapped in the highway tunnel by fire and thick smoke.
Firefighters believe a leak in the brake lining of one of the trucks may have caused the fire.
Officials say the commercial cargo trucks were moving the missile parts, which belonged to the South Korean military, from a South Korean Air Force base to Taegu.
South Korean soldiers stand next to a burning truck carrying missile parts at a expressway tunnel near Daegu. [AFP]
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I wonder if they ruled out a bomb in the tunnel. This brake failure and tire catching fire story, coincidentally in the tunnel on one of these trucks just doesn't ring right. It's possible, but it's a bit too much of a coincidence.
Unless I missed something, no one died. That seems to be a minor miracle. I don't know how long the tunnel is but I'm surprised people didn't die of smoke inhalation. The official story does seem a little weird. It also seems to be a little bit unsafe to drive missiles with rocket fuel through the tunnel.
Isn't the nike herc nuclear capable?
Some interesting history: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/airdef/nike-hercules.htm
Specs: http://alpha.fdu.edu/~bender/N-data.html
There were Nike-Ajax and Nike-Hercules installations in the Chicago Lake front parks into the 60s.
