Death toll from train crash revised
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China.org.cn, July 26, 2011
The death toll from a high-speed train crash in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday evening remained at 39 as of late Monday, local authorities said.
An official with the city government of Wenzhou earlier said the death toll had risen to 40 as they believed a dead person received by a local funeral parlour at about 9 p.m. Monday was a victim of the train collision.
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Thousands of people mourn the victims of the train collision Monday evening at the century square of Wenzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province. The accident killed at least 39 people and injured192. [CFP] |
However, an investigation by the funeral parlour and the local health department later found that the body belongs to a victim of a traffic accident that happened Monday night.
An earlier Xinhua report said that eight more bodies were discovered Sunday afternoon, however, according to an official with the local government, the bodies had already been included in the earlier death toll of 35.
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Yang Feng, a 31-year-old man who lost his pregnant wife and three other relatives in the accident, questioned the official tally. "They recovered the bodies of my family members Sunday afternoon, and 10 other bodies were found around the same time," Yang told the media reporters. "I think the official toll is not accurate." [CFP] |
Earlier Monday, rescuers recovered three bodies at the site. The U.S. Embassy in China confirmed that two American citizens had died in the crash.
The accident occurred when the high-speed train D301 rear-ended D3115 at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday on a viaduct near the city of Wenzhou.
The collision also injured 192 people, 12 of whom remained in critical condition Monday afternoon.
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Rescuers are cleaning up the deadly train collision site in Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province at about 10:30 p.m on July 25. [CFP] |
Identities of 38 victims have been confirmed while DNA test results of one body are still pending, according to the Wenzhou government, which also said that it will make public the names of the deceased soon.
The search and rescue work ended at 6 p.m. and the focus has shifted to dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy, said a spokesman with the local government.
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Chinese shares tumbled on Monday, the first trading day following a deadly train collision in the eastern province of Zhejiang, which left at least 39 people dead and 192 others injured.
Stocks related to high-speed trains plummeted, triggering panic selling on the markets.
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