Landslide derails passenger train in S. China, 7 injured

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-01 06:54

LUCHUAN, Guangxi - Seven people were slightly injured after a landslide derailed a train carrying more than 1,000 passengers in south China early on Monday.

Rescuers work at the site where a passenger train derailed due to a landslide in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 30, 2008. Seven people were slightly injured and the Litang-Zhanjiang railway, which links Guangxi with Guangdong Province, was cut off. [Xinhua]

The No.1322 train from Guangzhou to Chongqing was derailed at 2:20 a.m. at Luchuan County of Yulin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 90 kilometers from Nanning, the regional capital.

The locomotive and six carriages came off the tracks.

The reopening of the blocked railway was delayed as heavy rain hampered the 1,000-people rescue operation, said Shao Liping, head of the railway administration of Nanning.

"We have planned to first remove the derailed carriages with crane and clear the mud and rocks, and then have the deformed rail replaced, but we're afraid that the rain may cause new landslides, " said Shao.

Four of the injured had been discharged from hospital as of 7 p.m. on Monday and the other three were being treated.

"The train was carrying 1,118 passengers. The other passengers have all taken other trains to the southwestern municipality of Chongqing except for the three still in hospital," said the official.

The 317-kilometer line links Guangxi with Guangdong Province.