The death toll in a collision between two passenger trains rose to at least 66 in eastern China's Shandong province on Monday, according to China's official news agency.

More than 400 were injured, 70 of them in critical condition, Xinhua cited railway authorities as saying. Among them were four French citizens, according to Xinhua.

The wreck happened in the city of Zibo at 4:43 a.m., the report said. A train from Beijing bound for Qingdao derailed and crashed into a train traveling from Yantai to Xuzhou, Xinhua reported.

News photos showed carriages of one train lying on their side.

The accident disrupted traffic on the Jinan-Qingdao railway, Xinhua reported.

The head of the Ministry of Railways, Liu Zhijun, was headed to the site to oversee rescue efforts, The Associated Press cited the Web site of the Shandong government as saying.

In January, 18 people died when a train slammed into a group of about 100 workers carrying out track maintenance near the city of Anqiu in Shandong province, Xinhua reported.

Source: CNN