In pictures: China train collision

At least 66 people were killed in a collision at dawn between two passenger trains in eastern China, state media have said. More than 400 passengers were injured, many of them seriously.

One train, travelling from Beijing to the coastal resort of Qingdao, is believed to have come off the rails in Shandong province and collided with another going from Yantai to Xuzhou, which remained upright.

Ten carriages of the Beijing train then toppled into a ditch. Many passengers climbed out of the wreckage and wrapped themselves in bed sheets from the sleeper cars to protect against the cold.

Investigators have blamed the crash on human error and two senior railway officials have been sacked, state media have said.

Railways Minister Liu Zhijun has arrived at the scene to oversee the rescue effort, while Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang is also en route.

Monday's crash is the second major railway accident in Shandong province this year and the worst in China since 1997, when 126 people were killed after two trains collided in central Hunan province.

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