Business-savvy locals lend their helping hands

This was apparent on the night after thetwo high-speed trains, collided when a crowd summoned by social networking websites and micro-blogging services burned candles and dedicated white roses to the deceased at the city’s Century Square at 8 pm.

In Chinese culture, eight is considered an especially auspicious number as it rhymes with the word for wealth. “Cheer up, Wenzhou!” the crowd chanted in unison.

Li Xiao, 25, said he drove two hours from the other side of the city to deliver his condolences. “I called all my friends to come and join me,” he said. Neighbors also pitched in to help sort through the wreckage in pitch blackness after four carriages fell or hung off a 20-meter-high viaduct. One of them was left hanging precariously on the elevated bridge, with hundreds of passengers still trapped inside.

Wu Jiapan, a Wenzhou local, was one of the first to dash into a wrecked carriage through a tiny crack that he estimated to be less than one meter wide. He dragged three injured women and one man to safety. One of the four was bleeding so heavily she passed out.

Using the light from his cell phone, Wu first helped a woman in her 30s who was struggling to crawl out of the opening. In the end, he tore a broken chair to pieces and used it to stretcher her to medics with the help of bystanders.

“She could only mutter a few words when we got her out,” he said. “She told us that her lower back was in a lot of pain.”

According to eye-witness Tian Yunsui, the aftermath of the crash was a disorientating experience made more nightmarish by screams of pain and cries for help in the darkness. “The fallen carriages were just full of noise,” he said.

“So many people were begging for help. I’ve never seen such a chaotic scene, with people panicking so much.” The injured were sent to 11 hospitals across Wenzhou, with some placed in intensive care units.

The train crash was one of several highprofile accidents to undermine China’s public transport safety record in recent months.

Tragic accidents

In the early morning of July 22, 41 people were killed when an overloaded bus caught fire in Central China’s Henan province.Earlier this month, an escalator at a new subway station in Beijing collapsed, killing one 7-year-old boy and injuring 28. Last week alone, four bridges collapsed in various Chinese cities.Following the latest incident, China’s rail minister ordered a two-month safety check on railway operations and apologized for the deadly crash.

Railway Minister Sheng Guangzu said a number of officials had been directed to work on front-line operations over the next two months to learn lessons from the crash. He said the safety campaign will be extended through September and will focus on high-speed rail and passenger trains. Measures will include implementing maintenance standards and reinforcing checks on power connections to pre-empt outages.

Special attention will also be paid to preventing accidents caused by flooding and inclement weather, the minister said. Even before the investigation into the cause of the crash was complete, Beijing on July 24 fired three middle-level railway officials.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the ministry insisted that China’s high-speed rail technologies are advanced and up to standard. “We still have confidence in them,” Wang Yongping said at a news conference on July 24, hoping to restore the public’s shattered confidence.

This is likely to take some time, as members of the public have been quite vocal in raising their concern about the safety of the 200-250 km/h trains that were involved in the latest incident.

Concerns were also raised about the high-speed trains developed solely by China, which can travel at a speed of up to 300 km/h. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, which opened this month, has already experienced several power cuts, which left passengers stranded on trains for hours.

Back in Wenzhou, traffic resumed on a wrecked section of railway near Shuangyu town on the morning of July 25. More than 60 trains passed through the section, with 11 services still suspended.

Trains are the most common mode of transport in China for trips between cities. During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday in February, more than 2.3 billion trips are made by train.

“It would be unrealistic to give up the high-speed train service because of a single deadly accident,” said Zhang Liang, who traveled with a friend to Zhenjiang in neighboring Jiangsu province on July 25. “Bullet trains are fast and comfortable, but their safety and service need to be improved.”

According to an online survey by ifeng. com, more than 54 percent of the 251,000 people polled said they would not travel by high-speed train, at least in the short term. Only 15 percent said they believed the service was safe. Those who have no choice said they would begin paying more attention to the trains’ safety facilities. “I will make sure I figure out where the emergency exits and safety hammers are as soon as I board,” said Lei Fulong, who was about to travel on a bullet train to Fuding, in East China’s Fujian province.

On Thursday, Premier Wen Jiabao promised the investigation into the fatal train crash will offer a result that could “stand the test of history”.

China will severely punish those who are responsible for the fatal train collision, Wen said. “We will severely punish those who are responsible for the accident and those who hold responsibilities of leadership in accordance with the country’s laws,” Wen told the press. Wen said that safety is a top priority in China’s high-speed railway technology export.

“The high-speed railway construction of China should integrate speed, quality, efficiency and safety. And safety should be put in the first place,” said Wen.