An icy winter snow storm led to a rear-end collision between two Beijing subway trains Thursday, sending more than 515 passengers to the hospital, with the injured including more than 100 suffering broken bones, local transport authorities said Friday.
Preliminary investigations found two trains collided in the overground section of the Changping Line, which runs along the northwest outskirts of Beijing, after the rear train slid downhill when its brakes failed, sending it crashing into the leading train. The front train’s emergency brake was activated to contend with slippery tracks at the time.
Sixty-seven people remained hospitalized for treatment as of Friday morning, with another 25 under observation, Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT) said in a statement published Friday. No deaths have been recorded.
Emergency response teams finished transferring all passengers at around 11 p.m., the statement said, around four hours after the incident took place during the evening rush hour Thursday.
Videos and photos posted online showed the carriage of one train slammed into the other. Passengers told Caixin that the impact shattered windows and damaged the inside of the carriages, leaving many injured and bleeding.
North and Central China, including Beijing, have been hit with heavy snowstorms and icy temperatures this week, with the capital issuing a blizzard warning of the second-highest alert level Tuesday night. The warning was only lifted late Thursday night.
Beijing’s education department called off in-person school for kindergarten, primary and secondary school students beginning Wednesday, while more than 900 flights were cancelled in the capital Wednesday.
The number of injuries was much lower in initial reports. In a post published around two hours after the incident, the BMCT local transport authority said a train along the Changping Line had been forced to stop in between stations after a carriage had become detached, noting that over 30 people had been injured.
In its statement on Friday, the BMCT apologized for the injury and trauma caused, adding that the city government has set up an investigation team to delve into the cause of the incident, assess the emergency response work and hold parties responsible for the accident accountable.
Most of the Changping Line was operating again as of Friday morning, with shuttle buses running between the two stations where the accident occured, according to the Beijing subway operator.
Zhang Yichuan, Zou Xiaotong and Han Wei contributed to the story.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com)
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