Hundreds injured in Chinese rail crash
Monday, 28 Apr 2008 08:08
At least 66 people believed killed and 247 injured after collision between two passenger trains in eastern China
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At least 66 people have been killed and 247 injured after a collision between two passenger trains in eastern China, according to local media.
A train travelling from Beijing to the resort city of Qingdao is thought to have derailed and collided with another train, carrying passengers from Yantai to Xuzhou.
Both trains were likely to have been travelling at full speed when the crash happened outside Zibo in Shandong province, at 04:43 local time (21:43 BST on Sunday), a cargo worker told the Xinhua news agency.
The crash is the second major rail incident in the province this year, after 18 people were killed in January when a train hit a group of track maintenance workers near the city of Anqiu.
One survivor told Xinhua she and her 13-year-old daughter were able to escape the wreckage through a huge crack in the floor.
"We were still sleeping when the accident occurred," the state news agency 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."
A 1,500-strong rescue team has been dispatched to the site while the injured are being treated at Zhocun People's Hospital.
"Most are slight cases and more people are being sent in every hour," a hospital worker explained.
"Some of our medical workers have gone out for rescue work, too."
The crash was the worst in China since 100 people were killed in a crash in Hunan province in 1997.