(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-28 23:09

Emergency workers help evacuate passengers from derailed train carriages after two trains collided on a main railway route in Zibo, East China's Shandong Province, April 28, 2008. [Xinhua]

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang rushed to Shandong on Monday morning to direct the rescue work. He also visited the injured at local hospitals and conveyed to the victims and their families the condolences of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

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Zhang also requested the Railways Ministry, Shandong Province and relevant agencies to make all-out efforts to rescue the injured, clear the scene and repair the facilities for an early resumption of operations.

Preliminary investigations suggested the accident was caused by human error. Authorities have ruled out the possibility of terrorism.

Further joint investigations are under way by the authorities of work safety, public security, supervision and railways.

Immediately after the accident, two top officials of the Jinan Railway Bureau were sacked. The bureau's former director Chen Gong and former Communist Party chief Chai Tiemin face an investigation by the Ministry of Railways.

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