At least three passengers have been killed and more than 30
injured after the train they were traveling in was derailed by
hurricane force winds in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region early
Wednesday, rescuers said.
According to the Urumqi Railway Bureau, 11 carriages of Train
No. 5806 were derailed by winds gusting up to 144 km at around 2:00
AM, soon after it left Turpan, about 120 km from Urumqi, capital of
Xinjiang. The train was on its way to Aksu, in southern
Xinjiang.
"Winds measured force 13, as powerful as a hurricane, and the
temperature was minus 10 Celsius," said the railway bureau.
"Sand and dust cracked the window panes soon after the train
left Turpan, and blew some of the cars off the tracks as we were
trying to plug up the windows," recalled passenger Su Chuanyi, a
local TV journalist.
"The first rescue team, consisting of over 100 people, including
doctors and police officers, arrived at 4:30 AM," Su said. Nearly a
thousand rescuers have since been called to the scene, reports the
local railway bureau.
Han Jianwai, one of the train's attendants, was rescued from the
train at 10:00 AM after rescuers used a blowtorch to free his
trapped leg from underneath the railway car, said witnesses.
The railway, which was blocked for 11 hours, is now back in
operation and 1,100 passengers of the derailed train have reached
their destinations. A task force from the Ministry of Railways is
heading for the scene to assess the damage.
Wednesday is the tenth day Chinese Lunar New Year and many of
the passengers were returning home after visiting family members
and friends over the holiday. The Urumqi Railway Bureau earlier
predicted it would handle 1.397 million local passengers during
Spring Festival.
Winds were so heavy, rescuers had to wait for them to subside
before attempting any recovery operations.
"The wind was too strong to stand against. My face and hands
were scratched by the sand and small stones. Sand filled my mouth
whenever I took a breath," said a local rescuer named Zhang
Xiaoli.
Wind, cold, and snow hit Xinjiang two days ago, according to the
regional meteorological station. The area surrounding this stretch
of railway is well known for strong winds and is near a wind
farm.
In April last year the windows of a train from Urumpi to Beijing
were cracked by a sand storm and the train was delayed 32 hours
near where Wednesday's accident occurred. Eleven train cars were
derailed by strong winds in April 2001 in the same section. No one
was killed in that accident.
In 2003, the Ministry of Railways and Urumqi Railway Bureau
built a three-meter-tall wall along the main rail line to protect
trains from strong winds. The project cost 1.3 billion yuan (about
US$168 million).
(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2007)