A flatcar that derailed on a railway line under construction in north China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday afternoon killed five workers and injured four others, local authorities said on Thursday.

The accident took place at about 6:20 p.m. near Xindian Village, Jiancaoping District in the provincial capital of Taiyuan, said a spokesman with the Shanxi Provincial Work Safety Administration.

Several workers were thrown off the flatcar. Two were pronounced dead at the scene and three died in hospital later, the spokesman said. The four injured workers remain hospitalized in stable condition.

The derailment caused the oil tank of the locomotive to burst, leading to a fire that was soon extinguished, he said.

Local police and work safety authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, he added.

The railway is being built to link Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, capital of neighboring Hebei Province.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)