China blames fatal train crash on 54 officials
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Bad management and design errors caused a high-speed rail crash in July that killed 40 people and caused a huge public backlash against the Chinese government's pet high-tech project, an official report said yesterday.
China's cabinet, the State Council, announced that 54 officials were responsible for the crash and would be punished. They include Liu Zhijun, a former railway minister who has been jailed for corruption, and Zhang Shuguang, the rail ministry's deputy chief engineer, who has also been removed from office, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Ma Cheng, chairman of the China Railway Signal and Communication Corp, which made the railway signalling system, was also singled out. He died of a heart attack while talking to investigators in August.
The fact that the main figures blamed by the report, which was initially due to be released in November, are either dead or in prison means there is unlikely to be any major political upheaval.
The crash on July 23, when a high-speed train rammed into a stalled train near the city of Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, left 40 people dead and 172 injured. A lightning strike caused one train to lose power and a signalling failure led the second train to rear-end the first.
The crash badly undermined the high-speed rail project and triggered a public outcry over the high costs and dangers of the bullet train system.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments