Remember the gigantic train explosion in North Korea last month? NK blamed it on ammonium nitrate fertilizer at the time.

But here’s a very interesting report from Tokyo Sankei Shimbun that says as many as 10 Syrian “technicians” were killed in the blast—in the area of the train where the damage was the most serious: ‘Source’ Notes Syrian Technicians Killed in Yongch’on Train Explosion Incident. (Hat tip: Bubbaman.)

A military source familiar with Korean Peninsula affairs revealed on 6 May that Syrian technicians were killed in a train explosion incident that occurred on 22 April in Yongch’on in the northwestern part of the DPRK and that the damage was especially serious in that section of the train where the Syrians were aboard, along with large equipment. The same source noted that although the contents of the equipment are unknown, DPRK military-related personnel wearing protective suits arrived on the scene immediately after the explosion and removed debris only from that section of the train where the Syrian group had been aboard. Consequently, there is a strong likelihood that the accident occurred when military materials were being secretly transported between the DPRK and Syria.

According to the same source, the technicians aboard the train had been sent from the Syrian technical research center called Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche Scientific (CERS). Although CERS was established to promote science and technology development, it is suspected of playing a major role in Syria’s weapons of mass destruction development program.

The technicians and the cargo were reportedly aboard the same section of the train. The same source said it was uncertain whether the cargo was the source of the explosion or whether it exploded after being set off by an explosion on another section of the train. The source then said, “The damage to that section of the train was the most serious,” noting that nearly 10 Syrians and accompanying North Koreans were killed.