China train crash kills 70, injures hundreds

[John Ashworth]

China train crash kills 66, injures hundreds
Mon Apr 28, 2008 1:26am EDT

By Guo Shipeng and Nick Macfie

BEIJING (Reuters) - 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.

The local Qilu Evening news said the railway had begun a new timetable on Monday.

Railway Minister Liu Zhijun had arrived at the site and President Hu Jintao had dispatched Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang to the scene, Xinhua said.

A cargo worker at a nearby station suggested that judging from the location of the trains, about 40 km (25 miles) from Zibo, they were likely running at full speed at the time of the accident.

He 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 in China's worst railway accident in years.

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.

(Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Lindsay Beck; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Reuters

[John Ashworth]

Human Error Blamed For Rail Disaster
Updated:13:20, Monday April 28, 2008

A train crash which killed at least 70 people and injured hundreds more was caused by human error, officials say.

Around 10 carriages plunged into a ditch after two passenger trains collided in the city of Zibo in Shandong province, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

Witnesses say a passenger train from Beijing to coastal Qingdao city derailed and hit another travelling from Yantai to Xuzhou.

Xinhua said authorities had determined the crash - which happened on a bend as the trains travelled at full speed - was caused by "human error" but did not elaborate.

A railway official has been sacked and faces investigation by the Ministry of Railways.

One survivor 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," she said.

"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."

Around 70 of the 420 injured are thought to be in a critical condition.

State television said the rail line was built in 1897 and was due to be replaced by a high-speed link in time for the Summer Olympics, when Qingdao will host the sailing events.

Xinhua said: "The city government of Zibo has sent a 1,500-member strong team to help and console the victims' families."

The accident is the worst in China since 1997, when more than 100 people were killed in a train crash in the central province of Hunan.

In January, 18 people also died when a train travelling at more than 75mph slammed into a group of about 100 workers carrying out track maintenance near the city of Anqiu in Shandong province.

Sky News

[John Ashworth]

Negligence blamed as 70 die in Chinese rail crash

* Tania Branigan in Beijing
* The Guardian,
* Tuesday April 29 2008

At least 70 passengers were killed and hundreds injured yesterday as two trains collided in eastern China in the early hours. The state media blamed "human negligence" for the worst train accident for a decade and the government dismissed two senior railway officials within hours.

A fast train from Beijing to the seaside resort of Qingdao jumped the tracks and hurtled into a second train as they passed through Shandong province. Nine of its carriages plunged into a ditch.

The second train, heading from nearby Yantai to Jiangsu province, was also derailed in the collision in the outer suburbs of Zibo city.

The state news agency, Xinhua, said 420 people were injured and 70 were in a critical condition in hospital.

A passenger on the Beijing train told Xinhua: "I suddenly felt the train, like a roller coaster, topple 90 degrees to one side and all the way to the other side. When it finally went off the tracks, many people fell on me and hot water poured out of the thermos flasks." She received head injuries, but managed to climb out of a window.

"I saw a girl who was trying to help her boyfriend out of the train, but he was dead," she added.

Villagers smashed train windows with farm tools to rescue passengers, while survivors used blankets from the sleeper cars to carry out the seriously wounded. The injured survivors included four French nationals, a Chinese national sailing coach and a three-year-old boy.

The crash was China's worst since 1997, when more than 100 people were killed in a collision in the central province of Hunan. But it was the second major rail accident in Shandong province this year. Eighteen maintenance workers died in January after being hit by a high-speed train as they worked on the track.

China's railways have an impressive safety record, given that they last year carried 1.36 billion passengers on over 48,000 miles of track. China has invested about £50bn in recent years to upgrade and expand the system and run faster trains.

The ministry of railways sacked the director and party secretary of the Jinan railway bureau within hours of the crash, saying they were subject to investigation. But although the official media blamed "negligence", the cause of the accident was unclear. State television said the line was due to be retired ahead of the Olympics in favour of a high-speed link.

A rail official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Guardian: "I don't believe the accident was caused by the newly changed timetable. Only 20 minutes before, another train from Beijing to Qingdao passed the spot safely. It might have been caused by the driver, or it might be a technical problem because it happened on a bend. It is the first big accident on [this stretch of railway] since I started working 20 years ago. This has always been very safe. I don't believe the hardware will have had any problems."

This article appeared in the Guardian on Tuesday April 29 2008 on p17 of the International section. It was last updated at 00:00 on April 29 2008.

[John Ashworth]

'Speed to blame' for China crash
updated at 05:27 GMT, Tuesday, 29 April 2008 06:27 UK

High speed was the cause of a train collision in eastern China that left 70 people dead and more than 400 others injured, state media has reported.

A investigative panel set up by the State Council determined "overspeeding" was to blame, Xinhua news agency said.

The accident, China's worst in more than a decade, happened early on Monday morning near Zibo city in Shandong province.

A high-speed train from Beijing derailed and hit another train.

'In the dark'

The accident happened at 0443 local time on Monday (2043 GMT on Sunday) at a bend in the tracks.

The Beijing train, heading for the summer resort of Qingdao, derailed and hit the other train, which was going from Yantai to Xuzhou.

Nine coaches of the Qingdao-bound train fell into a ditch after the crash, while the other train remained upright.

The Beijing train was travelling at 131 km/hour (81 miles/hour) in an area with an 80km/hour (50 miles/hour) speed limit, Xinhua said, citing investigators.

A total of 416 people were hurt, Xinhua said, 70 of whom were in a serious condition.

Pascal Boisson, a French national who was travelling to Qingdao with his children and a friend, said that there had been no sign something was wrong.

"I still can't believe what happened, it was dark and the train just turned upside down," the 54-year-old told the French news agency AFP from a Shandong hospital.

"I don't remember much of what happened. After the train turned over, all I remember was that we were there in the dark, waiting."

Teams worked though the night to clear the rail line and early on Tuesday it reopened, Xinhua said.

It is China's worst rail disaster since 1997, when 126 people died in a collision between two trains in Hunan province.

BBC

[Nathan Berelowitz]

Fortunately the Olympic torch was elsewhere at the time!

[Geoff Pethick]

I travelled on that train T 195 from Beijing to Qingdao about five weeks ago. Its an overnight sleeper train which leaves Beijing at 22h50. I travelled 'soft' class which is far superior to Shosh Meyl's offerings. Quality bedding, TV, pa system, proper curtains on the window, air conditioning and other 'luxuries'. There's also an attendant to each coach.

The ride was excellent, on jointed track you could hear the joints but not feel them, on welded track silky smooth. All in all a far superior trip than a similar train in SA.

I also travelled on one of the locally built high speeds trains going at 260 kph. I also visited a massive train factory building modern coaches and high speed train stets. It even has a 3.6 km test track around its perimeter.

China is spending vast sums on its railway system, it makes SA's system look like a train set!

Regards
Geoff Pethick