China train collision kills 70, hundreds injured
At least 70 people have been killed and nearly 420 injured after a passenger train from Beijing careered off the rails and slammed into another train in eastern China.
The train was travelling to Qingdao - the coastal city that will host the Olympic sailing competition in August - when it derailed, causing the other train to leave the tracks too.
The accident happened in the city of Zibo in Shandong province.
Witnesses say many passengers survived and were able to climb out of the wrecked train carriages.
Human error
Xinhua news agency is reporting that a preliminary investigation of the train collision shows that it was caused by human error.
Two high ranking Chinese railway officials have been sacked.
Our China correspondent, Stephen McDonell, says as well as losing their jobs, the director and party secretary of Jinan Railway Bureau are reportedly under investigation for their handling of the local railways.
According to Chinese media reports, at the time of the collision, one of the two trains had derailed, sending 10 carriages into a ditch.
China train collision kills 70, hundreds injured
At least 70 people have been killed and nearly 420 injured after a passenger train from Beijing careered off the rails and slammed into another train in eastern China.
The train was travelling to Qingdao - the coastal city that will host the Olympic sailing competition in August - when it derailed, causing the other train to leave the tracks too.
The accident happened in the city of Zibo in Shandong province.
Witnesses say many passengers survived and were able to climb out of the wrecked train carriages.
Human error
Xinhua news agency is reporting that a preliminary investigation of the train collision shows that it was caused by human error.
Two high ranking Chinese railway officials have been sacked.
Our China correspondent, Stephen McDonell, says as well as losing their jobs, the director and party secretary of Jinan Railway Bureau are reportedly under investigation for their handling of the local railways.
According to Chinese media reports, at the time of the collision, one of the two trains had derailed, sending 10 carriages into a ditch.
China train collision kills 70, hundreds injured
BEIJING: Two passenger trains collided in eastern China on Monday, killing at least 66 people and injuring hundreds as carriages derailed and toppled into a ditch, state media said.
Some 400 people were taken to hospital, with 70 in a critical condition, Xinhua news agency said, suggesting the death toll could rise further.
One train was en route from Beijing to the seaside resort of Qingdao when the accident happened in Zibo, Shandong province. The second train was from the resort of Yantai, in Shandong.
Both were likely operating at full speed at the time of the accident, the worst in China since 1997, a cargo worker said.
One passenger described escaping the wreckage with her 13-year-old daughter through a massive crack in the floor.
"We were still sleeping when the accident occurred," Xinhua quoted the woman, surnamed Yu, as saying. "I suddenly woke up when I felt the train stopped with a jolt. In a minute or two it started off again, but soon toppled."
The accident happened at a bend in the tracks and which caused the carriages to topple into a ditch, Xinhua reported, adding that blood-tainted sheets and broken thermos flasks littered the ground.
Four of the injured were French nationals, all of whom were taken to hospital with bone fractures, the report said.
Carriages overturned
Pictures posted at a news portal showed carriages overturned and rescue workers milling around passengers wrapped in blankets.
The local Qilu Evening news said the railway had begun a new timetable on Monday.
State television said the rail line was built in 1897 and was due to be retired in favour of a high-speed link to be ready in time for the Summer Olympics, when Qingdao will host the sailing events.
Railway Minister Liu Zhijun had arrived at the site and President Hu Jintao had dispatched Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang to the scene, Xinhua said.
"The city government of Zibo has sent a 1,500-member strong team to help and console the victims' families," it added.
The cargo worker said trains were already backing up near his station due to the collision.
In January, a high-speed train ran through a group of maintenance workers in the dark in Shandong, killing 18.
China has invested about $100 billion in its railways in the past few years and is expanding the system to accommodate what is the world's most dense passenger and freight network.
As it stands, China's railways can barely keep pace with the country's breakneck economic growth or with the hundreds of millions of workers who are flocking from the countryside to booming cities.
Monday's accident was the worst in China since 1997, when more than 100 people were killed in a train crash in the central province of Hunan.
Some 400 people were taken to hospital, with 70 in a critical condition, Xinhua news agency said, suggesting the death toll could rise further.
One train was en route from Beijing to the seaside resort of Qingdao when the accident happened in Zibo, Shandong province. The second train was from the resort of Yantai, in Shandong.
Both were likely operating at full speed at the time of the accident, the worst in China since 1997, a cargo worker said.
One passenger described escaping the wreckage with her 13-year-old daughter through a massive crack in the floor.
"We were still sleeping when the accident occurred," Xinhua quoted the woman, surnamed Yu, as saying. "I suddenly woke up when I felt the train stopped with a jolt. In a minute or two it started off again, but soon toppled."
The accident happened at a bend in the tracks and which caused the carriages to topple into a ditch, Xinhua reported, adding that blood-tainted sheets and broken thermos flasks littered the ground.
Four of the injured were French nationals, all of whom were taken to hospital with bone fractures, the report said.
Carriages overturned
Pictures posted at a news portal showed carriages overturned and rescue workers milling around passengers wrapped in blankets.
The local Qilu Evening news said the railway had begun a new timetable on Monday.
State television said the rail line was built in 1897 and was due to be retired in favour of a high-speed link to be ready in time for the Summer Olympics, when Qingdao will host the sailing events.
Railway Minister Liu Zhijun had arrived at the site and President Hu Jintao had dispatched Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang to the scene, Xinhua said.
"The city government of Zibo has sent a 1,500-member strong team to help and console the victims' families," it added.
The cargo worker said trains were already backing up near his station due to the collision.
In January, a high-speed train ran through a group of maintenance workers in the dark in Shandong, killing 18.
China has invested about $100 billion in its railways in the past few years and is expanding the system to accommodate what is the world's most dense passenger and freight network.
As it stands, China's railways can barely keep pace with the country's breakneck economic growth or with the hundreds of millions of workers who are flocking from the countryside to booming cities.
Monday's accident was the worst in China since 1997, when more than 100 people were killed in a train crash in the central province of Hunan.
Equally lntriguing is, the PRC was rather too swift in sacking couple of railway officials even before they could provide some kind of explanation. A rather Indian style Coalition govt. move.;) Fishes, Dead Fishes, Foul Smelling Fishes, Fishy?
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