Train collision in China kills 66

BEIJING —  At least 66 people were killed and 247 were injured when a passenger train derailed early today and slammed into another train in eastern China, state-run media reported.

Witnesses said a train traveling from Beijing to the coastal city of Qingdao hit another traveling from Yantai to Xuzhou about 4:40 a.m. in the city of Zibo, New China News Agency said.

News photos showed the derailed train in a ditch, with rescuers removing passengers from one of several carriages that had fallen over.

Survivors with white sheets around their shoulders stood or sat near the wreckage. A photo showed one of the second train’s carriages perpendicular to the track.

The news agency said bloodstained sheets and broken beverage containers could be seen on the ground beside the twisted train cars.

“We were still sleeping when the accident occurred,” said one unhurt 38-year-old woman, who escaped with her 13-year-old daughter through a huge crack in the floor of the train.

Hospitals reported treating dozens of injured passengers and said some employees were assisting people at the site of the derailment.

New China News Agency said the accident had cut traffic on the Jinan-Qingdao railway.

The head of the Ministry of Railways, Liu Zhijun, was headed to the site to oversee rescue efforts, the Shandong government website said.