Daegu subway fire

Daegu subway fire
Remodeled Jungangno station
Location	Jungangno Station, Daegu, South Korea
Date	February 18, 2003 (2003-02-18) 9:53 a.m. (KST)
Target	Daegu Metropolitan Subway
Attack type	Arson, attempted suicide attack
Weapons	Two milk cartons filled with a flammable liquid
Deaths	192
Non-fatal injuries	151 (including the perpetrator)
Perpetrator	Kim Dae-han
Motive	Attempt to commit suicide in a public place

The Daegu subway fire was an arson attack on February 18, 2003, that killed 192 people and injured 151 people. An arsonist set fire to a train stopped at the Jungangno Station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea. The fire then spread to a second train that had entered the station from the opposite direction a few minutes later.

The arsonist was Kim Dae-han (Hangeul: 김대한, Hanja: 金大漢), a 56-year-old unemployed former taxi driver who had suffered a stroke in November 2001 that left him partly paralyzed. Kim was dissatisfied with his medical treatment and had expressed sentiments of violence and depression; he later told police he wanted to kill himself, but to do so in a crowded place rather than alone. By most accounts, on the morning of February 18, he boarded train 1079 on Line 1 in the direction of Daegok Station, carrying a duffel bag that contained two green milk cartons filled with a flammable liquid, possibly paint thinner or gasoline.

As the train left Banwoldang Station around 9:53 a.m., Kim began fumbling with the cartons and a cigarette lighter, alarming other passengers who tried to stop him. In the struggle, one of the cartons spilled and its liquid contents caught fire as the train pulled into Jungangno Station in downtown Daegu. Kim, his back and legs on fire, managed to escape along with many passengers on train 1079, but within two minutes the fire had spread to all six cars. The fire spread quickly in the insulation between the layers of aluminum that form the shell of the cars, the vinyl and plastic materials in seat cushions and strap handles, and heavy plastic matting on the floors, producing thick smoke as it burned.