At least 15 people were sent to the hospital after a passenger train derailed early Sunday morning (3:17 am) in Hailun county in the city of Suihua, Heilongjiang province, Xinhua reports. The train, K7034, departed from Heihe, Heilongjiang and was headed for Harbin, the provincial capital. There were no reported deaths.
Train accidents are rare in China, a country that sees nearly 2 billion passengers every year. The last major derailment was, as many will remember, noteworthy for China’s official response — and its effects on censorship and social media (a boon for Sina Weibo).
Sunday’s accident, at least initially, doesn’t look nearly as bad or newsworthy. Nonetheless, some more pictures via Xinhua.
UPDATE, 4/18, 12:19 pm: Sabotage! Via Xinhua:
Police in Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, confirmed on Thursday that a train’s derailing in the province on Sunday morning was caused by sabotage of rail tracks.
The Harbin Railways Public Security Bureau said on Thursday that it has arrested a suspect, but declined to give the suspect’s identity or a motivation for the sabotage.
