A South Korean ship carrying 5,000 tons of rice will leave for North Korea on Monday as part of efforts to help victims of last month's devastating train blast in the communist state.

The Red Cross said that loading of the rice package, worth one and a half billion won, had been completed on Sunday and that the ship is scheduled to arrive at the North's Nampo port on Tuesday.

The deadly train explosion that occurred on April 22 in Ryongchon killed at least 160 people and injured more than 1,300.