Dozens dead in China train crash
By Emma Henry and agencies
Last Updated: 9:32am BST 28/04/2008 (来源：英语学习门户 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

At least 66 people have been killed and hundreds injured after two passenger trains derailed and tumbled into a ditch after colliding in eastern China.

Around 400 people were taken to hospital, with 70 in a critical condition, the state Xinhua news agency said, after the accident at a bend in the tracks.

The accident happened when a train travelling from Beijing to the coastal city of Qingdao derailed and hit a second passenger train just before dawn.

About 10 of the first train's carriages toppled into a dirt ditch, Xinhua reported. The second train, traveling from Yantai to Xuzhou, was knocked off its tracks although it stayed upright.

Xinhua reported that authorities said human error caused the first train to derail outside the city of Zibo and had ruled out terrorism. It did not say what the error was, but said two high-ranking railway officials in Shandong had been fired.

One passenger described escaping the wreckage with her 13-year-old daughter through a massive crack in the floor.

"We were still sleeping when the accident occurred," Xinhua quoted the woman, surnamed Yu, as saying. "I suddenly woke up when I felt the train stopped with a jolt. In a minute or two it started off again, but soon toppled."

Four of the injured were French nationals, all of whom were taken to hospital with bone fractures, Xinhua said.

The local Qilu Evening News said the railway had begun a new timetable on Monday.

State television said the rail line was built in 1897 and was due to be retired in favour of a high-speed link to be ready in time for the summer Olympics, when Qingdao will host the sailing events.

In January, a high-speed train ran through a group of maintenance workers in the dark in Shandong, killing 18.

China has invested about $100 billion in its railways in the past few years and is expanding the system to accommodate what is the world's most dense passenger and freight network.

Monday's accident was the worst in China since 1997, when more than 100 people were killed in a train crash in the central province of Hunan.