Chinese state media say 32 dead in train accident

DERAILED Emergency workers and people work to help passengers from the wreckage of train after two carriages from a high-speed train derailed and fell off a bridge in Wenzhou in east China's Zhejiang province Saturday July 23, 2011. AP

BEIJING—China’s state media is reporting that at least 32 people were killed when a Chinese high-speed bullet train lost power after being struck by lightning and was hit from behind by another train.

The official Xinhua News Agency said two of the bullet train’s cars were knocked off a bridge in the collision that occurred Saturday night in Wenzhou city.

Before raising the death toll, Chinese state media had reported that 89 people were injured in the collision. No new figure for the number of injured was available.

The Xinhua News Agency says four cars on the second train also derailed, but it did not say how serious that was.

The news agency says one carriage from the first train fell about 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters).
Pictures on the Internet show one badly damaged car lying on its side by the bridge and the second car leaning against the bridge after landing on its end.