Train Accident in Kunming Kills 11 Railway Workers

A tragic train accident in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming has left 11 railway workers dead, local officials confirmed.

The incident occurred near Luang Town Station on Thursday while workers were conducting tests on earthquake detection equipment. According to Reuters, the workers were positioned on a curved section of track when a train struck them.

Train services at the station resumed shortly after the accident, though authorities have launched an investigation into how the disaster unfolded.

China operates the world’s largest rail network, spanning nearly 160,000 kilometers and handling hundreds of millions of trips annually. Despite its reputation as one of the most efficient and safest systems globally, serious accidents occasionally occur.

In 2021, a similar incident at Gansu Station on the Lanzhou–Xinjiang line killed 11 workers. One of the deadliest accidents in recent memory happened in 2011 in Zhejiang province, where 40 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a high-speed rail crash.