Lighting strike on bullet train kills 30

More than 30 people died when a Chinese high-speed bullet train lost power after being struck by lightning and was hit from behind by another train last night.

The Xinhua News Agency said two coaches of the bullet train were knocked off a bridge in the collision that occurred near Wenzhou city in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.

More than 80 people were injured. The Chinese Railway Ministry has ordered emergency safety checks on the country's trains, it added. It is the latest of a series of scandals to hit the Chinese rail network.

In February the railways minister was sacked for "serious disciplinary violations".