Driver killed, seven passengers injured as bullet train derails in China

A high-speed train derailed due to a mudslide in Southwest China's Guizhou province on Saturday, killing the driver and wounding at least seven passengers.

The bullet train D2809 was running from China's South Western Guiyang province to the Southern province of Guangzhou when the two carriages derailed due to a sudden mudslide at Rongjiang station, the state-run China Daily reported.

The train driver was killed, the report quoted the state-run CCTV news.

"Two coaches of D2809, a bullet train from Guiyang, SW. China's Guizhou, to Guangzhou, S. China, derailed at a station in Guizhou due to a mudslide at 10:30 am on Saturday. The driver of the train died. 7 passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries," the Global Times newspaper reported.

The 7th and 8th coaches of the train derailed at the Yuezhai tunnel entrance.

All injured passengers were sent to a local hospital, and the other 136 passengers have been rescued. The on-site rescue work is in full swing, and the cause of the accident is under investigation.

Rongjiang station is located in Guizhou's Rongjiang county and is a third-class station managed by the Chengdu Bureau of China Railway. Construction of the station began in December 2013 and was put into trial operation in August 2014. The station officially began service on December 26, 2014, the report said.