Hundreds Dead and Injured in Iran Freight Train Explosion

Hundreds Dead and Injured in Iran Freight Train Explosion

Kerry Sheridan

 

Part of a runaway¹ freight train exploded in northeastern Iran Wednesday. The full explode blast killed at least 200 people - mostly firemen and rescue workers - and cost significant damage.

Officials say rescue workers were attempting to put out a fire on freight cars carrying fuel and industrial chemicals when the explosion occurred. The train cars had rolled away from a station and traveled out of control for some distance before they derailed, causing a fire and an explosion.

According to Iran's state-run news agency, the force of the blast caused serious damage to five villages near the town of Neyshapur, some 650 kilometers east of the capital, Tehran.

The news agency said the freight cars were carrying fuel oil, sulphur and fertilizer.

Among those reported killed by the blast were the town's governor, mayor and fire chief.

Television footage showed fires burning in several mangled³ train cars, and black smoke billowing above the wreckage⁴. The explosion was heard 75 kilometers away and was reported to have shattered windows within a radius⁵ of 10 kilometers.

Hundreds of injured people were transported to local hospitals.

Investigators⁶ are trying to determine the cause of the tragedy.

 

注释：

runaway [5rQnEweI] adj. 失去控制的

freight train  货运车

rescue [5reskju:] n. 援救，营救

put out  扑灭

derail [di5reil] v. 出轨

Tehran [teE5rAn] 德黑兰，伊朗的首都和最大城市。

sulphur [5sQlfE] n. 硫磺

fertilizer [5fE:ti7laizE] n. 肥料（特指化肥）

mangle² [5mAN^l] vt. 毁损，损坏

billow [5bilEu] v. 翻腾，汹涌

shatter [5FAtE] vt. 粉碎

radius [5reidjEs] n. 范围

determine [di5tE:min] v. 测定

1 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

2 mangle   

vt.乱砍，撕裂，破坏，毁损，损坏，轧布

参考例句：

• New shoes don't cut,blister,or mangle his feet.新鞋子不会硌脚、起泡或让脚受伤。
• Mangle doesn't increase the damage of Maul and Shred anymore.裂伤不再增加重殴和撕碎的伤害。

3 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》