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Mysteries surround China's fatal train collision

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-01 20:16

CHENZHOU, Hunan Province: Questions continue to emerge two days after a central China train collision that left three dead and 63 injured in the Hunan Province.

The accident happened at around 2:30 a.m. Monday, but the two trains involved in the accident should not have met each other according to the time schedule. Train K9017 should have entered the Chenzhou Station at 2:12 a.m. and left at 2:22 a.m. while train K9063 should have entered at 2:38 and left at 2:41 a.m. in Chenzhou City of Hunan.

Related readings:  Railway company: Brake failure led to train collision  Three die in 2-train collision in C China  Traffic resumes after C China train collision  Three killed in passenger train collision in central China

An employee of the Chenzhou Station, who refused to be named, denied a "dispatching mistake."

"The time could not be wrong," the employee said and refused to show the records to Xinhua. The employee said the records had been archived by the investigation team from the Ministry of Railways.

Another employee of the station named Deng Yonghong said train K9017 arrived at a high speed one minute after the train K9063 left while she was standing on the platform.

Deng said she thought it was a passing train but she heard a strong crashing noise shortly thereafter.

Guangzhou Railway Group, which runs the two services and the station, blamed the accident for brake failure, said Sun Jing, general manager of the Guangzhou Railway Group, in a closed-door meeting at 1 a.m. on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Railways has launched an investigation, but details will not be disclosed until it is complete, said Chen Hualan, director of the ministry's department of work safety, who refused to be interviewed by Xinhua.

As of Wednesday, all train service has returned to normal.

Three injured passengers were discharged from the hospital Tuesday and another 20 left on Wednesday, doctors said.