Speeding caused deadly train crash in China

An investigation has blamed speeding for the train crash in eastern China that killed 70 people, it was reported today.

The state Xinhua News Agency said an investigation panel set up by the State Council, or Cabinet, determined that speeding was responsible for yesterday’s deadly collision in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong.

An additional 416 people were hurt in the crash when one train jumped its tracks and hit another train. Seventy of the injured are in hospital in a critical condition.

The investigation showed a Beijing to Qingdao passenger train was travelling at 81mph before the accident - far over the section's speed limit of 50mph, Xinhua said.

The train jumped its tracks and collided with an oncoming passenger train on another track.

The government has already sacked two railway officials over the accident. Xinhua did not say if the engineers of the trains had survived the crash, or if they were being held as part of the investigation.

Work crews using heavy cranes have already cleared the tracks of damaged rail cars, with the line reopening early today.

Seventy of the 416 people injured in the crash were in a critical condition in hospital, according to Xinhua. No foreigners were among the dead.

Injured survivors included four French nationals, a Chinese sailing team coach and a three-year-old boy.

Trains are the most popular way to travel in China and the country’s overloaded rail network carried 1.36 billion passengers last year.

While accidents are rare, the government is trying to extend and upgrade the state-run rail network and introduce more high-speed trains.