Dozens of injuries reported in South Korean subway accident

A subway train hit another train stopped at a station in South Korea's capital on Friday, causing minor injuries for scores of people, a city official said.

Yonhap news agency reported that the moving train ran into the back of a train that had stopped because of mechanical problems. The agency reported that a failure in the moving train's automatic distance control system may have been responsible, but that officials were still investigating.

Local media also reported long delays in officials providing instructions to passengers about what to do. That could strike a nerve in South Korea, where the captain in an April 16 ferry sinking that killed hundreds of people has been condemned for waiting 30 minutes to issue an evacuation order as the ship sank.

About 170 people said they felt pain after the accident Friday and 32 were taken to a nearby hospital, but there were no serious injuries, the city official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to talk to the media on the matter. Another official later said it wasn't clear how many were taken to the hospital.

Hospital officials also said there were no serious injuries.

The accident comes as South Koreans are criticizing the government for lax safety practices that many feel contributed to the ferry sinking, which left more than 300 people, mostly high school students, dead or missing.