Train accidents kill 2, injure 59

Two people have been killed in two separate train accidents in China.

One person was killed and 51 others were injured when an empty train hit a stationary passenger train in northwestern Qinghai province on Wednesday.

The collision happened at about 8:10 pm when a train operated by Golmud East Railway Station collided with the No 7581 outside the station on the Qinghai-Tibet line.

According to authorities, 439 passengers and 15 railway workers were on board. Rescue efforts ended at about 3 am on Thursday.

Emergency services rushed 47 passengers and five train workers to hospital, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co said in a statement online.

One man died in hospital at about 3 am on Thursday morning.

The man had been trapped between two carriages on the passenger train. He was conscious and called for help when he was found, but was in a coma by the time firefighters were able to rescue him.

According to the Golmud city government, another 51 people were hospitalized, two of them suffering serious injuries, while three have broken ribs. Twenty-four people are being kept in for observation, while 22 had been discharged as of 4 pm on Thursday.

The city's media information department said the provincial health department has sent two medical experts to the city.

In Heilongjiang province, a driver of a passenger train died and 10 people were injured when a passenger train collided with a coal truck on Thursday.

The collision occurred at 2:25 am Thursday in Jiamusi when the No 4137 hit the truck at a rail crossing, railway authorities said.

One train driver died and two other drivers were injured. Eight passengers were slightly injured. The injured have all been sent to hospitals for treatment or medical observation.

The driver of the truck has been held by police. The causes of the two accidents are still being investigated.

Xinhua News Agency contributed to this story

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn