Sharjah 24 – BNA: The driver of a high-speed train in southern China was killed and eight people were injured when two cars derailed early Saturday after hitting a mudslide, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The accident occurred midmorning as the train was entering a tunnel in the inland southern province of Guizhou. It had been traveling on a regular route to the coastal business center of Guangzhou, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Those injured were in stable condition and the other 136 people aboard the train were evacuated safely, CCTV said.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. Landslides have become common in the region from a combination of heavy precipitation and the development of infrastructure in mountainous areas.

China has the world’s most extensive high-speed rail network, with 40,000 kilometers (24,855 miles) of tracks nationwide and trains running at more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour. Hundreds of millions of passengers are carried annually, although that figure has been severely reduced under pandemic-related travel restrictions.