A deadly train accident killed at least 39 people and injured 192 others in eastern China Saturday night. China.org.cn picked three posts from Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging service, commenting on the accident:
"China, please slow down your breakneck pace, wait for your people, wait for your soul, wait for your morals, wait for your conscience! Don't let the trains jump the tracks, don't let the bridges collapse, don't let the roads become traps, don't let the houses become ruins. Walk slowly and let every life enjoy freedom and dignity. No one should be cast aside by this era."
-Tong Dahuan, columnist at the Oriental Morning Post
"They are the rescue workers who sleep on the rails in the tunnel after an accident. They are the farmers who rush bare-armed to lend a hand to the trapped and the wounded. They are the townspeople and migrant workers who stand in a queue at midnight waiting to donate blood. They warm our souls with the light of humanity. They are the true backbone of China. Please safeguard their kindness. Safety is the most basic guarantee a nation can give its people."
-Xu Wenguang, program director at CCTV
"If we lay the blame for a series of accidents on carelessness and a failure to meet safety responsibilities, we're sidestepping the heart of the matter, and such cases will happen again. We need to reassess the "Great Leap Forward" type thinking on economic development, the value framework that places political achievements before lives, the monopolization of public projects and the corruption it causes."
-Xu Xiaonian, economics and finance professor at the China Europe International Business School