Lightning strikes a high-speed train, which loses power and is rear-ended by another train on an elevated track in Wenzhou in eastern China. The safety of the national network has been called into question after a corruption scandal involving the head of the railway ministry. Continue reading after the jump.
At least 11 people were killed and 89 others were injured Saturday when a bullet train in easternChina lost power after being struck by lightning and was rear-ended by another train.
The crash sent two carriages careening off an elevated track in Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang province.
China State Television showed footage of rescue workers in a steady downpour pulling bloodied passengers out of a carriage standing on its end and leaning against a bridge.
A total of six carriages were derailed between the two trains, one of which originated from Beijing and the other from Hangzhou, state media reported.
The collision marks the first major incident in China’s massive high-speed rail network, set to reach 10,000 miles by 2020.
The newest line in that network, a Beijing-Shanghai corridor, has been beset by electrical glitches in recent weeks because of poor weather, officials said.
The safety of the national network was also called into question when the head of the railway ministry was removed in February because of a corruption scandal believed to have led to shoddy construction.
The ministry has since decreased top speeds on the system as a precautionary measure.
It was unclear how fast the trains in Wenzhou were traveling before they crashed. Known as dongche, the trains were part of China’s first generation of high-speed rail. Top speeds reached 155 mph. By comparison, the speed on the Beijing-Shanghai line is 186 mph.
