the crashed Transrapid

Transrapid crashes in Germany

In case the recent fire in the Shanghai Transrapid was not scary enough, today a Transrapid crashed in Germany, killing an unknown number of passengers.
The accident happened on a test-track: the elevated train is apart from Shanghai nowhere in service. At the train, ten people have been rescued and 19 were still missing.
German transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee returned from a trip in China, possibly another effort to sell more Transrapids to China. Officially the route between Shanghai and Hangzhou could still be equipped with this German wondertrain.

The Transrapid route in Emsland, Lower Saxony, is the world's largest test track for magnetic-levitation trains. 31.8 kilometers long, it runs between Dörpen and Lathen close to the Dutch border.

Update I: According to Der Spiegel the train slammed into a maintenance vehicle on the track.

Apparently the collision caused the Transrapid to jump off the rail. "The magnetic levitation train is hanging halfway off," police spokesman Helge Nestler told the Associated Press, adding that passengers were still inside. Rescue operations have been hampered by the elevated rail's height, which varies between five and seven meters.

And more: According to financial circles one of the partners in the project ThyssenKrupp intended to sell the technology to China and leave. This was before the crash, so it might be a hard sell now.

ThyssenKrupp develops and markets the technology via the Transrapid Intl. Consortium together with Siemens AG (SI), which makes the train's electronic control system.
Berlien said it is conceivable that ThyssenKrupp would "close the books" of Transrapid and sell the technology to China.
However, the company is also considering a Transrapid joint venture or marketing partnership in China.

Update II: German media suggest the number of deaths might rise to 21.