A train rolls by the site where two passenger trains collided in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, yesterday. Three people were dead and 63 others injured. (Xinhua)
Two passenger trains heading to Shenzhen collided yesterday morning (June 29) in Chenzhou, Hunan Province, leaving at least three people dead and 63 injured.
The crash occurred at 2:34 a.m. at the railway station when the K9017 from Changsha to Shenzhen collided into the rear of the K9063 from Tongren to Shenzhen, according to a statement released by the Guangzhou Railway Group, which operates the trains.
The K9017 locomotive and its first five cars and the K9036 locomotive and its first two carriages were derailed, the release said. One of the trains crashed into two nearby houses, collapsing them. Several people in them were injured.
The victims were sent to the Chenzhou hospitals for treatment, and six who were seriously injured were in stable condition, the railway group said.
The identities of the three dead had not been confirmed.
Twenty-four medical workers with the Shenzhen Pingle Orthopedic Hospital were aboard the K9017.
"We were sleeping at that time and were suddenly awakened by a big bang and some of us were thrown off the sleepers," Cao Guoqing, a doctor with the hospital, said in a phone interview.
Another doctor, Ma Changsheng, was awake when the accident happened.
"We 24 people were in car 14 at the rear of the train. The speed of the train was slow as it approached the station, but it suddenly jolted before a sudden stop," said Ma.
"At that time, I felt it was very abnormal and soon we were told to leave the train because of an emergency," Ma said in an interview after they arrived in Shenzhen at 6 p.m. yesterday.
Half of the hospital's workers were given the go-ahead to participate in the rescue work. Yang Zeji, deputy head of the hospital, divided them into four teams.
"Most of the injured people suffered bone fractures. But because we didn't have medicine and medical equipment, we could only carry the injured to safe places," Yang said.
"It is lucky that car four of the K9017, which was severely damaged, was a dining carriage, otherwise the death toll might have been higher," Yang said.
The Chenzhou government arranged 50 buses to transport the 2,000 stranded passengers, most of whom were headed for Guangdong. The Shenzhen passengers arrived home at 6 p.m. yesterday.
Liu Zhijun, minister of railways, has gone to Chenzhou, which is 300 kilometers from Changsha, capital of Hunan, to oversee the rescue work. The local government set up a task force to coordinates the rescue work to ensure timely treatment of victims, maintain social order and divert passengers.
The collision caused delays, but traffic had returned to normal by 2 p.m. yesterday, the Guangzhou Railway Group said.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
Chenzhou is one important station of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway, China's south-north rail artery.
(By Han Ximin)
