The World Health Organisation (WHO) and other aid agencies in North Korea are preparing to send medical supplies and offer other help if needed after a deadly explosion near a train station in the north of the country.
The WHO's representative in North Korea, Dr Eigil Sorensen, said: "The international agencies, including WHO, have some supplies in the country already which are targeted for other institutions that we could relocate on short notice.
"Initially, we are talking about maybe some relocation. We have some medical supplies in a warehouse, targeted for other areas, but that could be moved to the affected area on very short notice."
UN agencies had sought information from the North Korean government about the blast, which the Chinese Foreign Ministry earlier confirmed, but were told there was no official information yet and they would be kept informed.
"We also offered, if requested, to provide some assistance so we are doing some contingency planning for a potential response if requested," Dr Sorensen said.
"Basically, we know the type of incident which has been reported and there will be some expectation of what type of problems would be occurring."
Several UN agencies have offices in Pyongyang, as well as the Red Cross and a handful of overseas non-governmental organisations.