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Railway company: Brake failure led to train collision

By Hou Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-06-30 11:35

Brake failure of train K9017 is believed to be the direct cause of Monday’s fatal train collision in central China which left three people dead.

Rescuers work at the site of a collision between two passenger trains at the Chenzhou railway station, central China's Hunan province, June 29, 2009. [CFP]more photos

Two passenger trains collided at Chenzhou Railway Station in Hunan Province early Monday, killing two passengers and one local resident.

"Drivers of K9017 failed to stop at Lane Five of the station because of a brake problem and the train rushed into K9063, which had just started at Lane Three," said Sun Jing, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Railway Group, which operates the station and the trains involved in the collision.

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The K9017 train was traveling at a speed of 55km/h when the crash happened, Sun reported to leaders from the State Administration of Work Safety early Tuesday morning.

After colliding with K9063, the derailed locomotive of train K9017 slammed into a house, killing one resident.

63 people were injured in the accident and six of them are in serious condition, according to Sun.

Chen Lanhua, director of the Safety and Supervision Division of the Ministry of Railway, later said that brake failure was just the direct reason of the collision and more details behind the accident will be found after further investigation.