Team set up to probe train derailment

Railway authorities have set up an investigation team in response to a train derailment in Central China's Hunan province on Monday, which killed one and injured 127, according to China Railway Guangzhou Group.

The Guangzhou Railway regulation Bureau of the National Railway Administration will take the lead in the investigation, along with Chenzhou city government and Hunan provincial Transport Department and Emergency Management Department, the company said in a Sina Weibo post on Wednesday night.

The team will conduct a comprehensive and in-depth investigation into the cause of the accident and related issues of public concern, and will release the results in a timely manner, it said.

Railway authorities also expressed deep condolences to the police officer who was killed in the incident, as well as apologies to the injured passengers, it said, adding that treatment of the wounded is underway.

The derailment happened in Chenzhou's Yongxing county at 11:40 am on Monday when the train ran into debris from a landslide that had fallen to the track due to recent heavy rains, causing five carriages to derail and the power generation car to catch fire.

A railway police officer was killed and 122 passengers were hurt, four of them in serious condition. Five rail staff also suffered light injuries. All of the injured were sent to hospitals.