Circuit Flaws Blamed For China Train Crash 103
hackingbear writes "The Xinhua news agency reports that a signaling equipment circuit design flaw and lack of safety alertness in railway management caused a high-speed train to ram into a stalled train near the city of Wenzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province on Saturday, leaving 40 people dead and 191 injured. A lightning strike triggered the malfunction, which resulted in a green alert light failing to turn red, leaving railway personnel unaware of the stalled train, the official said. The Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Co., which was responsible for designing and building the signaling system, has posted an apology letter on its website, offering condolences and promising to 'shoulder any due punishments that may result from the investigation.' Domestic media has raised more questions over the explanation. 'Why was such seriously flawed equipment in use for nearly two years without being detected? Why was it installed in as many as 76 rail stations across the country? Are there other problems with the railway apart from equipment flaws?'"
You should see USA railroad signaling equipment! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:You should see USA railroad signaling equipment (Score:5, Informative)
Train Company is burying evidence (Score:5, Informative)
Just to let people be aware, there has been significant controversy (as far as that is possible in China, and also in overseas communities such as the Chinese community in the USA) in terms of handling of the disaster.
For example, soon after the train crash, the crashed trains were moved off the elevated rail and (literally) buried "to let the other trains run on time"; this was criticized as being too early a move (10 h after the crash), without a thorough enough search for survivors. Reporters were barred from the scene, and pleas from the families of the train crash victims to search through the wreckage were ignored. Indeed, 20h after the crash, one of the uniforms (acting against his orders) was able to locate a 2-yr-old girl still alive; she has been transported to the hospital and is now in good condition, and people are trying to figure out how to tell her that her parents both died in the crash. In general, officials from the train lines have been stonewalling, but have been apparently quite forthcoming with compensation money for the families.
It seems suspicious to me: are they trying to cover up something?
MUCH more to the story than you see on Slashdot (Score:5, Informative)
See more on these English sites:
http://shanghaiist.com/2011/07/25/wenzhou_high-speed_rail_col.php [shanghaiist.com]
http://www.chinasmack.com/ [chinasmack.com]
1. Rescue efforts were called off twice, first time 5 HOURS after accident, and again 3 hours later, with officials claiming both times there were no more signs of life. Survivors were pulled out after each time. When questioned about why this could happen, railway ministry spokesman calls finding survivors "a miracle" Press and public extremely disgusted at irresponsible rescue effort and crassness in public relations. Railway spokesman says they relied on on-site rescue officials in making the determination, with quote "it doesn't matter whether you believe them or not, I believe them" -- which has now become a meme used to mock gov officials.
2. Removal and dismantling of wreckage began HOURS after accident. Wreckage was broken up and BURIED on site for some reason, leaving experts and lay public shocked and dumbfounded. Public suspicion is that the railway ministry was trying to hide evidence, pointing to the way other nations handle accident scenes (not touching it until investigators have combed through everything). The dismantling and burial was caught on amateur film, which shows 2 bodies falling out of the wreckage as a team of excavator machines break the train carriages apart for on-site burial. MUCH anger over this issue.
3. Victim families were immediately offered 172000 RMB government compensation plus 50000RMB "early signing bonus" to those who agree quickly. Chinese internet explodes again in disgust at the thought of using the phrase "award money" for death compensation, and of trying to rush grieving families into legal settlements. It looked like they were selling condos rather than giving financial aid. Most families refuse, saying they want answers rather than money. Internet is filled with posts comparing the disparity between compensation amounts for foreign nationals who die in China vs Chinese citizens -- tens of millions of RMB vs hundreds of thousands. Also comparisons to Chinese nationals who die in other countries (mainland tourists who died in Taiwan: 1.8 million RMB each) Yesterday, after Premier Wen visited the site, the compensation package was raised to a minimum of 915000RMB. People still calling this insultingly low.
4. Second day of the accident, media was informed of official narrative and government directive. Press is ordered to use only the official name for the accident, devote most of their air time to stories of rescue heroism, and forbidden from investigating on their own initiative. Some journalists are rebelling, with public offering support but also voicing apprehension about safety of these journalists.
5. Official death toll is currently at 40 with the passing of a critically injured passenger yesterday. The passenger manifest is still not public. List of dead, missing, and injured is still not released, even though the railway moved to an id card based ticketing system earlier this year, which would make this information computerized and easily accessible. Public is comparing this to the release of names of deceased in the Norway shooting incident. Public suspicion is that the real death toll is far above 40. Much frustration directed at railway ministry and government over lack of information.
There's a lot more controversies here but those are the main ones. This has blown up to a HUGE national discussion about transparency and government accountability. Much disgust on the Chinese internet over the handling of this accident.