China rebounded quickly from its deadliest train accident in a decade, announcing that speeding was to blame for the collision that killed at least 70 people and reopening the railway after little more than a day.
Officials wanted to appear in command Tuesday, sacking a third railway official while detailing their success in caring for the 416 people who were hurt in Monday’s pre-dawn crash. To maintain its tight control over media coverage of the accident, authorities repeatedly blocked foreign journalists from speaking to survivors.
A train headed from Beijing to the coastal city of Qingdao was traveling at 131 kilometers per hour (81 mph) before the accident — well over the track section’s speed limit of 80 kph (50 mph), the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing an investigative panel set up by the State Council, China’s Cabinet.
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