BEIJING, China: The driver of a high-speed train in southern China was killed and eight passengers were injured after the train hit a mudslide and two of its two cars derailed early June 4.
The accident happened while the train, which had been traveling on a regular route to the coastal business center of Guangzhou, was entering a tunnel in Guizhou province.
Those injured were listed in stable condition, and the remaining 136 passengers were evacuated safely, state media CCTV reported.
While the cause of the accident is still being investigated, landslides have become common in the region due to heavy rains combined with the development of infrastructure in mountainous areas.
With 24,855 miles of tracks around the country, China has the world’s most extensive high-speed rail network, which carries hundreds of millions of passengers annually, though ticket sales have been significantly reduced by COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions.
With the exception of a collision in 2011 between two trains outside the city of Wenzhou that caused the deaths of 40 people, the system’s safety record has been described as quite good.
