Violation of operation rules was blamed for causing the traffic
accident in east China's Shandong Province that killed 18 people,
said a local official on Saturday.
According to rules, only full-time employees were allowed to
work on railways. However, the about 100 people relocating the
tracks were all migrant workers without safety trainings and their
team had no operation license, said Chen Gong, head of the Jinan
Railway Bureau of Shandong.
Chen said that according to plan, railway track adjustment was
carried out from 10:00 PM on Wednesday to 1:30 AM on Thursday. In
the period of time, trains passing by were required to slow down
their speed.
The workers, however, entered the work site ahead of
schedule.
The accident happened at 8:48 PM, when a high-speed train ran
across the work site in Anqiu, killing 18 workers and injuring 9
others.
The China Railway 16th Group Co. Ltd. in charge of the project
should be fully responsible for the accident and relevant persons
punished, Chen said.
The injured are in stable condition and out of danger, and two
of them have been discharged from hospital, according to Chen.
(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2008)