BEIJING: At least 66 people died and hundreds injured as two passenger trains collided in eastern China on Monday.

As per the report the some 400 people were taken to hospital, with 70 in a critical condition, the death toll could rise further.

One train was en route from Beijing to the seaside resort of Qingdao when the accident happened in Zibo, Shandong province. The second train was from the resort of Yantai, in Shandong.

Both were likely operating at full speed at the time of the accident, the worst in China since 1997, a cargo worker said.

Four of the injured were French nationals, all of whom were taken to hospital with bone fractures, the report said.

This is the second major railway accident in Shandong this year after a high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao ran over a group of railway workers in January, leaving 18 dead and nine others injured.