Officials in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming said that a train struck a group of railway workers on Thursday, leaving 11 dead and two injured. It is the country’s most serious rail accident in more than ten years, reported Reuters.
What exactly happened?
According to authorities, the train was conducting tests for earthquake detection equipment when it hit the workers on a curved section of track near Luoyang Town railway station.
They added that the station in Yunnan province has now returned to normal operations, and an investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.
Also on Thursday, two railway maintenance workers died after being hit by a train in Deyang in Sichuan, another southwestern Chinese province, Jimu News reported.
All about China’s rail network
China’s rail network is the world’s largest, spanning more than 160,000 km (100,000 miles) and racking up billions of trips each year.
Though praised for its efficiency, it has drawn scrutiny after several high-profile incidents, such as a 2011 crash in the eastern province of Zhejiang that killed 40 and injured 200.
Nine people were killed in 2021 when a train in the northwestern province of Gansu ran into workers on a section of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway.
With inputs from Reuters
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Shivam Verma is a journalist with over three years of experience in digital newsrooms. He currently works at NewsX, having previously worked for Firstpost and DNA India. A postgraduate diploma holder in Integrated Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, Shivam focuses on international affairs, diplomacy, defence, and politics. Beyond the newsroom, he is passionate about football—both playing and watching—and enjoys travelling to explore new places and cuisines.
