Six killed as train derails in China

A cargo train came off the tracks in southwest China's Yunnan province on early Monday, local authorities said.

A cargo train came off the tracks in southwest China's Yunnan province on early Monday, destroying several houses and burying six people, local authorities said.

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The accident occurred at around 6:30 a.m. in Qujing, said sources with the city's railway and public security bureaus.

Witnesses said the 17-car cargo train went out of control after leaving Geyitou station in Xuanwei, and sped along the line linking Yunnan's provincial capital, Kunming, with Guiyang, in neighbouring Guizhou province.

Several bogies broke off and derailed along the way.

Railway workers at the next station, in Xuanwei county, redirected the train on to an emergency line that passes along Longhua section, hoping the train would slow down and brake before crashing into other trains.