A crash between two subway trains during rush hour in Beijing hurt 102 people, according to Chinese state media.
Over 500 people went to the hospital after the accident happened around 7:00 pm local time (11:00 am GMT) on Thursday.
The trains crashed into each other while going downhill on the Changping subway line during a heavy snowstorm.
By Friday morning, 423 people have left the hospital.
While it doesn’t happen a lot, there were accidents on the Chinese capital’s transportation system because the tracks were slippery from snowstorms.
The train couldn’t stop on the icy tracks and crashed into the back of another train.
The impact made the last two carriages of one train come loose. We don’t know which train was uncoupled.
Pictures and videos on the internet show people crowded inside train cars, stuck in the dark because the power went out. Some people were using hammers to break windows to get some fresh air.
A video was posted on a Chinese social media app showing a woman who looks like she passed out, lying across some train seats.
67 people are still in the hospital getting treatment, and 25 are being watched closely by doctors. No one died.
The event made Chinese internet users very angry and they left strong comments about it. Some people were surprised by how many injuries there were, and others were upset about the trouble the accident caused.
“Does Beijing Subway not have anyone to fix things and check them regularly. ” “Are we not valuing the lives of hundreds of people enough. ” asked a Weibo user. Beijing Subway is run by the city government and has 27 subway and rail lines in the city.
Beijing Subway said sorry for the accident and promised to pay for the medical bills of the people who got hurt.
Because of the bad weather, the train operator wants the trains to be driven by a person and for there to be more space between each train. The part of the subway line where the incident happened, which includes three stations, was closed on Friday.
Snow in Beijing has made it hard for people to travel by road, train, and plane.
The weather will get very cold in northern China soon.
Weather experts said that it will be much colder in most areas of the country from Thursday to Sunday, with temperatures dropping by 8 to 12 degrees Celsius. This means it’s going to be very cold in Beijing this weekend, with temperatures dropping below -20C.
In a few cities, officials have closed schools and stopped train services.