Bullet trains in deadly collision
Source: Xinhua |
July 24, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
At least 16 people were killed and 89 injured after two coaches of a bullet train fell from a bridge after derailing in east China's Zhejiang Province last night, local emergency services and hospital sources said.
The number D3115 train, travelling from the provincial capital Hangzhou to the southeastern city of Fuzhou, derailed at the section of Shuangyu Town in Wenzhou City of Zhejiang at 8:50pm.
The accident occurred after the train was hit by lightning and lost power and was then struck by another bullet train, the official microblog of Hangzhou TV "News 60 minutes" program quoted a local railway official as saying.
The Ministry of Railways confirmed at 11:20pm that the D301 train from Beijing to Fuzhou rear-ended the D3115 train.
The first four coaches of D301 and the 15th and 16th coaches of D3115 were derailed in the collision.
A witness said one coach of D3115 plunged to the ground while another was left suspended from the bridge with one side seriously damaged.
The bridge is about 20 to 30 meters above the ground.
"Rescuers have dragged many passengers out of the coach on the ground," a witness said over the telephone.
Passengers on the train were reported appealing for help via microblog right after the accident.
A microblogger, named "Sam Is Me," wrote on weibo.com that he was stranded in a coach of D3115. "Please help me!...Help!!! Help!!!" he wrote at 9pm. "I'm so scared."
Witnesses said the scene was crowded with people, complicating rescue work.
Right after the accident, the Minister of Railways, Sheng Guangzu, rushed to the ministry's control and command center in Beijing to guide operations, and Hu Yadong, deputy minister of railways, headed to the scene to oversee the rescue effort.
The number D3115 train, travelling from the provincial capital Hangzhou to the southeastern city of Fuzhou, derailed at the section of Shuangyu Town in Wenzhou City of Zhejiang at 8:50pm.
The accident occurred after the train was hit by lightning and lost power and was then struck by another bullet train, the official microblog of Hangzhou TV "News 60 minutes" program quoted a local railway official as saying.
The Ministry of Railways confirmed at 11:20pm that the D301 train from Beijing to Fuzhou rear-ended the D3115 train.
The first four coaches of D301 and the 15th and 16th coaches of D3115 were derailed in the collision.
A witness said one coach of D3115 plunged to the ground while another was left suspended from the bridge with one side seriously damaged.
The bridge is about 20 to 30 meters above the ground.
"Rescuers have dragged many passengers out of the coach on the ground," a witness said over the telephone.
Passengers on the train were reported appealing for help via microblog right after the accident.
A microblogger, named "Sam Is Me," wrote on weibo.com that he was stranded in a coach of D3115. "Please help me!...Help!!! Help!!!" he wrote at 9pm. "I'm so scared."
Witnesses said the scene was crowded with people, complicating rescue work.
Right after the accident, the Minister of Railways, Sheng Guangzu, rushed to the ministry's control and command center in Beijing to guide operations, and Hu Yadong, deputy minister of railways, headed to the scene to oversee the rescue effort.
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