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China fires more officials over fatal train crash
04 May 2008 04:12:13 GMT
 Source: Reuters
BEIJING, May 4 (Reuters) - China has sacked five rail officials following a train crash last month that killed 72 people, bringing to eight the total number dismissed.

An express train travelling from Beijing to the eastern coastal city of Qingdao derailed and collided with another train in Shandong province in the early hours of April 28.

Authorities have blamed the worst train accident in the country in over a decade on speeding and poor management

The five officials of the Jinan Railway Bureau, which oversees rail lines in Shandong, have been removed from their jobs, the Beijing News said on Sunday.

The director, Communist Party boss and another senior official of the bureau had already been sacked over the crash, which also injured more than 400 of the some 2,800 passengers aboard the two trains.

It was the second major accident along the line after a high-speed train killed 18 maintainence workers in January.

By Saturday, bodies of 16 victims had been cremated, the Beijing News said, apparently after relatives agreed to compensation terms.

Zhao Judong, whose 37-year-old wife was killed in the crash along with a colleague, said families of more than 10 victims had refused to accept the non-negotiable compensation of 200,000 yuan ($28,620) for each victim.

"We do not want to ask for too much, but the officials offered compensation without consultations," Zhao, a Beijing-based software salesman, told Reuters by telephone from Shandong. "They won't discuss the amount with us."

Chinese Internet users have angrily called for the dismissal of the unpopular minister of railways, Liu Zhijun. ($1=6.987 Yuan) (Reporting by Guo Shipeng and Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by John Chalmers)


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A child, infected with a form of intestinal virus identified as enterovirus 71 (EV71), receives medical treatment at a hospital in Fuyang, Anhui province May 3, 2008. China ordered authorities across ...


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Last updated:Sun May 4 04:11:01 2008