Train collision kills 43 in China
BEIJING, China (AP) — A pre-dawn collision Monday between two passengers trains in eastern China killed at least 43 people and injured 247, a state news agency reported.
The crash happened about 4:40 a.m. in the city of Zibo in Shandong province, Xinhua News Agency said.
It quoted witnesses as saying a passenger train from Beijing to coastal Qingdao city derailed and hit another train, causing heavy casualties. The second train was traveling from Yantai to Xuzhou.
Xinhua quoted medical workers at the crash site as saying there were heavy casualties, but it was difficult to give an immediate number. I think dozens were injured or killed, one doctor was quoted as saying.
The head of the Ministry of Railways, Liu Zhijun, was headed to the site to oversee rescue efforts, the Web site of the Shandong government said.
In January, 18 people died when a train hurtling through the night at more than 75 mph slammed into a group of about 100 workers carrying out track maintenance near the city of Anqiu in Shandong province.
Xinhua said the latest accident had cut traffic on the Jinan-Qingdao railway, which links the provincial capital of Jinan with Qingdao. E-mail to a friend
