Overspeeding causes train tradegy

A preliminary investigation shows human error may have caused a deadly accident involving a high-speed passenger train and another train. At least 70 people were killed, and more than 400 injured in Monday's accident.

The Qingdao-Jinan Railway reopened to traffic Tuesday morning after an interruption of over 20 hours.

This is China's worst train accident in over a decade.

The tragedy happened before daybreak on Monday in Hejiacun village about 500 meters east of Wangcun Railway Station in Zhoucun District in the suburbs of Zibo city.

A high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao derailed. And a train on its way from Shandong to Jiangsu province then slammed into it. The second train also veered off the tracks. A total of at least 12 carriages from both trains derailed.

Investigators say the first train was travelling at 131 kilometers per hour before the accident far in excess of the speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour between Zhoucun and Wangcun.

The casualties were from both trains. Four French nationals were among the injured but no foreign nationals were killed.

Rescue teams rushed to the scene immediately. Soldiers and armed police were also at the site to help with the rescue operation.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have called on local authorities to do their utmost to help survivors, identify the cause of the accident and restore normal train services on the line.

Vice Premier, Zhang Dejiang, and the Minister of Railways, Liu Zhijun, went to the site of the accident to oversee the rescue work. And they also visited victims in hospitals.

Local hotels and hospitals have been vacated to accommodate victims and their families. And stranded passengers are being transported by road.

Two high-ranking provincial railway officials were sacked immediately after the crash.