A HIGH-SPEED passenger train jumped the tracks and slammed into another train near Zibo City in the eastern province of Shandong early yesterday, leaving 70 dead and 416 injured.

Preliminary investigations found human error was to blame for the worst train crash since 1997. Authorities have ruled out the possibility of terrorism.

The first train, coded T195, was traveling from Beijing to Qingdao when it derailed at 4:40 a.m. near Zibo, 70 km from Jinan, slamming into train 5034 traveling in the opposite direction from Yantai to Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province.

A total of 10 carriages were derailed, China News Service said.

No foreign citizens were among the dead, but four French nationals were hospitalized with bone fractures.

They were identified as Pascal Boisson, 54, his son, Pierre Emmanuel Boisson, 14, daughter Joanne Boisson, 22, and a family friend, Robin Naurence, 42.

Joanne, who sustained minor back injuries, politely declined Xinhua’s request for an interview.

“I’m not feeling well. I’m on my way to see my younger brother at a separate hospital,” she said over the phone.

“My father was badly hurt. I’m worried about my brother and Naurence,” she said.

Her father suffered multiple fractures to his ribs and bruises on the leg and her brother had shoulder injuries, said Zhang Jun, head of the orthopedics department at a Zibo hospital.

“He may have another fracture in the chest, but we have to decide that with an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan,” Zhang said. “He may need some time to recover.”

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, who was overseeing rescue work at the scene, visited the Zibo Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital where Joanne and her father were being treated yesterday afternoon.

Hu Weidong, a coach of the Chinese sailing team, who was on the train to Qingdao, a co-host city of the Beijing Olympics, was among the injured.

“He didn’t lose consciousness but there were grave injuries to his neck and spine, which we fear could cause paralysis,” Zhang said.

Pre-dawn nightmare

“We were still sleeping when the accident happened,” a passenger surnamed Yu said.

“I suddenly woke up when I felt the train stop with a jolt, and after a minute or two it started off again, but soon toppled,” said Yu.

“I suddenly felt the train, like a roller coaster, topple 90 degrees to one side and all the way to the other side,” a passenger surnamed Zhang said.

“When it finally went off the tracks, many people fell on me and hot water poured out of the thermos flasks.”

Human error

Although investigations are continuing, some investigators said that T195 was traveling at 131 kilometers per hour before the accident, far in excess of the speed limit of 80 km per hour in surburban areas.

Chen Gong, former director general of the Jinan Railway Bureau, and Chai Tiemin, the bureau’s former Party chief, were sacked yesterday and subject to investigation by the Ministry of Railways.

Traffic disruptions

The crash disrupted traffic on the century-old Jinan-Qingdao Railway, a 384 km trunk line between the two big cities in Shandong.

Authorities arranged buses for thousands of passengers who were stranded at stations in Shandong yesterday.(Xinhua)