Death toll rises to 66 in east China train collision--

Death toll rises to 66 in east China train collision(2)

2008-04-28 17:14:04 [ Big Normal Small ] 　Comment

Many passengers climbed out of the wrecked train cars shortly after the accident. Some wrapped themselves in bed sheets from the sleeper cars in the early morning chill.

Xinhua reporters at the site saw blood-tainted sheets and broken thermos flasks on the ground, and some of the derailed train cars were seriously damaged.

A 38-year-old woman from the provincial capital Jinan escaped from the wrecked train through a huge crack in its floor with her 13-year-old daughter.

"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 again, but soon toppled."

The woman, who gave only her family name of Yu, said she was traveling with her daughter from Yantai to Jinan on board train 5034. After the accident they were given bread and water and were waiting for treatment.

The mother said she suffered pains on her legs, but the child seemed largely unscathed.

Rescue teams, consisting of medical workers and policemen, have been sent from the neighboring cities of Jinan and Weifang, said a spokesman with the Shandong provincial government.

Death toll rises to 66 in east China train collision

Death toll rises to 66 in east China train collision

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang (R1) comforts the injured passenger of the trains colliding accident, in a hospital of Zibo, east China's Shandong Province, on April 28, 2008. Passenger train T195 en route from Beijing to Qingdao city in eastern China derailed and hit train 5034 early on Monday. The death toll has climbed to 66 and 247 were hospitalized, railway authorities confirmed. (Xinhua Photo)

MINISTRY VOICES CONDOLENCE

A spokesman with the Ministry of Railways has voiced condolences to the victims.

"We grieve over the losses of lives, and sincerely hope those who were injured in the accident will recover soon," said Wang Yongping.

The accident has caught the attention of top Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun and head of the State Administration of Work Safety Wang Jun have arrived at the site to oversee the rescue work.

TRAFFIC DISRUPTION

The accident has disrupted two-way traffic on the Jinan-Qingdao Railway, a 384-km pivotal rail link between the two big cities in Shandong.

This is the second major railway accident taking place in Shandong this year.

In January, a high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao ran down a group of railway workers, leaving 18 dead and nine others injured.

The workers were relocating the tracks when the train ran into the work site in Anqiu City.

China had raised train speeds six times as of April 2007, with railways allowing a speed of more than 200 km per hour totaling 6,227 km in length. By 2020, the total length of such high-speed railways will reach 18,000 km and high-speed train services will cover 50,000 km, benefiting 90 percent of China's population.

The nation has started building several new high-speed rail projects, including the new Beijing-Tianjin railway and the Beijing-Shanghai railway. The latter, with a designed speed of 350kilometers per hour, started construction in mid April.

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