North Korean Officials Apologize for Apartment Collapse

North Korean officials made a rare apology Sunday by taking responsibility for a recent apartment building collapse in the capital of Pyongyang, state news agency KCNA reported.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “sat up all night, feeling painful” after he was informed about the accident, Agence France-Press reports via KCNA. North Korea’s minister of people’s security and chief secretary of the city committee of the ruling Workers’ Party were among the officials who made public apologies over the incident.

South Korean officials told the AFP that the 23-story apartment building contained about 92 families when it collapsed Tuesday. The number of resulting deaths remains unknown.

North Korean authorities told KCNA that “irresponsible” supervision was to blame for the collapse.

It’s common practice in North Korea for families to be moved into apartment buildings before they’re finished being built, AFP reports.

[AFP]