By Tham Choy Lin, Bernama,
Beijing : Services resumed early Tuesday on the Qingdao-Jinan track after a collision between two passenger trains killed at least 70 people and left more than 400 injured in eastern Shangdong province.
Workers toiled overnight to repair the stretch where a passenger train from Beijing to the sea resort city of Qingdao jumped tracks and smashed into another train approaching from the opposite direction at pre-dawn Monday.
It was China’s worst rail tragedy in a decade.
According to Xinhua News Agency, investigators say the T195 train from Beijing to Qingdao was travelling at 131km per hour, exceeding its speed limit of 80km per hour.
The death toll could rise, given the big number of 416 injured being treated at 19 hospitals. Among them are four French nationals and a Chinese national sailing coach who was travelling to Qingdao, the host city of the Olympics sailing competition.
China’s top leadership has despatched Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang to the scene and two top railway officials in Jinan, the capital of Shangdong, were sacked hours after the incident.
From hospital beds, passengers spoke of their terrifying ordeal.
Zhang Lin told China Daily she was thrown off her sleeper berth and out of the train window which was already broken, and as she hit the ground, the carriage crashing within inches of her feet.
“One more roll by the carriage could have crushed me,” said Zhang who suffered fractures and bruises.
Student Ding Qi said a sleeper berth fell on her leg and she was still traumatised by the chaos, screaming and blood she saw.
“From that moment till now, I dare not close my eyes. It is terrible,” she was quoted as saying by China Daily.
Thousands of commuters were stranded when the tracks were closed after the accident, including many who had made holiday plans for the upcoming Labour Day break.