The driver of a high-speed train was killed and several passengers injured in a derailment in southern China’s Guizhou Province on Saturday, state media reported. The train, which was heading for Guangdong province, also in the south of the country, derailed after rolling over debris near a tunnel, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Read alsoWhen goods from China take the train rather than the boat
Videos released by several Chinese media showed the locomotive shattered by the impact, with the rest of the train remaining largely intact. These videos also showed scenes of chaos in one of the carriages after the crash, with passengers screaming amidst their luggage and food strewn on the floor.
According to CCTV, the driver is dead. A controller and seven passengers were hospitalized but “their lives are not in danger“. Fatal accidents are rare on China’s high-speed rail network, the largest in the world. In 2011, around 40 people died in a high-speed train accident in Wenzhou, near Shanghai.