Kunming [China], November 28 (HBTV): At least 11 people were killed on Thursday when a test train struck a group of maintenance workers on the track in Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, state-run Xinhua reported. Two others were injured and have been hospitalised.
According to China Railway Kunming Group Co. Ltd., the accident occurred early in the morning at Louyangzhen station. Railway authorities said the cause of the collision is under investigation, though operations at the station have since resumed.
Xinhua reported that emergency teams were deployed immediately after the crash. The agency stated that ‘after the accident, the railway authorities immediately activated the emergency response plan and, together with the local government, organised rescue efforts and medical treatment for the injured’.
The incident follows a major tragedy in Hong Kong a day earlier, where a high-rise apartment building caught fire, killing 55 people, according to CNN. Another 23 people were injured in the blaze, including eight firefighters. Officials said 51 victims died at the scene, while four others succumbed to injuries in the hospital.
China, which operates one of the world’s largest railway networks, has recorded several fatal train accidents over the years, though such incidents have declined significantly. In 2022, a train derailed in Guizhou province after striking debris from a landslide near Rongjiang county, killing the conductor and injuring eight others, according to state media cited by Al Jazeera. (ANI)