Train derailment leaves 4 dead, 2 missing; crash cause unknown

At least four people were killed and two were missing after a freight train owned by China's largest State-owned aluminum producer derailed in Gongyi, Henan province, on Wednesday night, local authorities said.

The train, belonging to the Aluminum Corp of China, damaged a house when it derailed and overturned. Six people - four crew members and two villagers living near the rail line - were struck, and a search and rescue mission was underway, according to a release from the city's publicity department on Thursday morning.

The department later said that four people were killed and two were missing, without disclosing their identities.

The incident occurred at around 10 pm on Wednesday. It wasn't clear what caused the train to leave the tracks. The corporation suspended all train operations on the line.

The 22-kilometer railway was built in the 1950s to transport aluminum ore. Currently, three trains setting off from Gongyi on a daily basis, the release said.

The accident happened in a section with an approximate 2 percent downhill grade. The train weighed more than 2,350 metric tons, with 25 cars each loaded with 60 tons of aluminum ore, it said.

The first 13 cars were twisted under a pile of aluminum ore after colliding with the house, which made it difficult for the rescue team to find people who were unaccounted for, the release said.

The rescuers were still searching for the missing with the help of dogs and life detectors. More than 200 people, including public security officers, emergency rescue workers and medical staff were taking part in the rescue. The local government mobilized two truck cranes and six ambulances to join the mission.

Shi Baoyin in Zhengzhou contributed to this story.