Bureaus Exclusive

Three stranded trains reach destinations

By By Huang Zhiling and Xia Yongjing (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-18 23:32

Workers clear away the Baiguo-Baishiyan section of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway Line.

CHENGDU - Three of the four trains which were stranded on Thursday night as rain-triggered landslides buried parts of a railway line in Southwest China reached their destinations on Saturday morning, according to local railway authorities.

On the evening of June 16, a rainstorm befell the Baiguo-Puxiong section of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, giving rise to landslides and stranding nearly 5,000 passengers on four trains.

Some 2,000 people with 10 excavators rushed to the scene clearing the rail line linking Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, and Kunming, capital of neighboring Yunnan Province.

The Chengdu Railway Bureau which oversees the line started an emergency response mechanism to ensure adequate food, water and medical care for the trapped passengers. It also sent buses to evacuate them.

Railway staff offer food to stranded passengers.

Although three of the four stranded trains -- Beijing-Panzhihua, Chengdu-Panzhihua and Chengdu-Kunming—reached their destinations early today workers are still working along the Baiguo-Baishiyan section of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway Line, for the roadbed has been damaged by floods.

The Chengdu Railway Bureau has sent more than 1,600 workers with 16 excavators to clear away the section.

As of press time today, three shortcuts had been built there.