Two locomotives collided at China's new rail line to Tibet

Two locomotives collided at a work site on China's new railway line to Tibet, killing one person and injuring eight others, the government said Saturday. The accident occurred Friday evening at a railway station about 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xinhua said one of the locomotives was traveling at about 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles) an hour, but due to a mechanical failure gathered speed instead of slowing down as it approached the site. It crashed into a locomotive parked on the railway for repairs, Xinhua said.

Although the 1,950-kilometer (1,220-mile) railway between Lhasa and the city of Xining, in Qinghai province, was completed in October, test runs for commercial operations are not due to begin until next summer. The line is the only railway link to the Himalayan region, reports the AP. N.U.