Qingdao-Bound Train Crash Injures Sailing Coach, 70 Dead
Chinese transportation safety experts suspect excessive speed is the cause of massive train crash April 28 on the route between Beijing and Qingdao, the coastal city hosting Olympic sailing. The train toppled into a ditch and collided with another train.
Reports put the death toll at 70, with more than 400 injured, including Hu Weidong, coach for the Chinese sailing team.
“He didn't lose consciousness, but there were grave injuries to his neck and spine, which we fear could cause paralysis,” says a doctor who is quoted by Xinhua news agency. The 36 year-old coach is listed in critical condition.
Two high-ranking railway bosses have been sacked already in the aftermath of the crash, the worst in China for a decade.
The crash is the second this year in Shandong Province, located east of Beijing.
Tibetan Independence Flags – Made In China
A Hong Kong newspaper is reporting that police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags.
The factory in Guangdong has been filling orders from abroad for the flag of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Workers say they thought they had just been making colorful flags, not realizing their meaning.
But Ming Pao newspaper says some of the workers alerted authorities after seeing the flags on television coverage of the protests in Lhasa.
The factory owner has reportedly told police the emblems had been ordered from outside China, and he didn’t know they stand for Tibetan independence.
Workers who had grown suspicious checked the meaning of the flag – thousands of which had already been packed, ready for shipping – by using the internet.
Chinese police suspect some of the flags have already been sent overseas, and may appear in Hong Kong during the Olympic torch relay there this week.
Authorities are stepping up inspections of vehicles heading to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and onwards to Hong Kong.
The flag of the Tibet government-in-exile, known as the ‘Snow Lion Flag’, was introduced in 1912 and is banned in mainland China.
New Olympics Museum For Hong Kong
The IOC Museum has negotiated a deal with the Hong Kong Jockey Club with the ultimate aim of establishing an Olympics Museum in the autonomous region.
Both parties have signed an agreement under which the club will be supporting the Olympic Movement by making a donation to the IOC Museum.
“The Hong Kong Jockey Club is one of the oldest sports clubs in the world. It is also a distinguished organization in supporting social programs in Hong Kong," IOC President Jacques Rogge told guests at a signing ceremony on April 10.
“I have personally seen the facilities and they are the best ever. I am very pleased to see the Club expand its support by becoming a contributor and developing Hong Kong Olympic Museum.”
Rogge says the club has become a good partner to the Olympic Movement by stepping in to support the Beijing Games and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government with its offer to host the equestrian events.
Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Henry Tang, says the club has already invested more than $154 million to provide the best equestrian venues and facilities in Olympic history.
In comments at the signing ceremony, the IOC president remarked on the quality of the venue at the Jockey Club.
“It's even said that they treat the horses far better than their members. As I am due to arrive in Hong Kong during the Games on the 18th of August, I would like to ask the Chairman, please, no room, a stable will do."
With reporting from Anthony Stavrinos in Sydney.For general comments or questions, click hereYour best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
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