An eyewitness to last week's devastating train explosion in North Korea has said the disaster could have been prevented or damage from the blast minimized if authorities had responded properly.

In a telephone interview with KBS TV Wednesday, the unidentified eyewitness to last Thursday's train blast said that one of the two trains that collided was engulfed in fire for some 40 minutes before the explosion.

The person said the deadly accident could have been prevented if the fire had been extinguished promptly.

The reports did not say whether the eyewitness is North Korean or Chinese nor from where he had witnessed the explosion.