19 KILLED IN CHINA AS TRAIN HITS LANDSLIDE, DERAILS

24.05.2010 [18:13]
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Baku, May 24 (AZERTAC). A passenger train hit dirt left by a landslide and derailed Sunday in eastern China, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 70, state media reported.

The latest death toll jumped from initial reports of eight killed, as rescuers dug out more bodies from mangled and overturned train carriages, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The train, bound for the tourist destination of Guilin, derailed around 2 a.m. Sunday in a mountainous area near Fuzhou city in eastern Jiangxi province, China Central Television reported.

Heavy rains caused a landslide that buried the railroad tracks, and the train derailed when it crashed into the huge mounds of dirt and debris, CCTV said.

About 2,000 rescuers, including firefighters, police and soldiers, found 10 bodies and pulled out 53 people who were trapped inside the crushed carriages, Xinhua said. Rescuers removed another 280 people by 9 a.m.

They also warned that landslides remain a threat.

19 KILLED IN CHINA AS TRAIN HITS LANDSLIDE, DERAILS

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