Slovenian PM sends condolences to Chinese counterpart over fatal train collision

BELGRADE, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa sent on Monday a cable of condolence to his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao over the deadly early morning train collision accident in eastern China.

Jansa expressed heartfelt condolences on his and the government's behalf, Jansa's office told the official news agency STA.

Jansa also asked the Chinese premier to pass the condolences to the casualties and to the families of those who died in the collision, his office said.

The train collision happened Monday morning near the city of Zibo in Shandong province in eastern China, when a high-speed passenger train jumped the track, striking another train and leaving 70 dead and 416 injured from both trains as of late Monday, according to railway authorities.

The high-speed train, coded T195, was en route from Beijing to Qingdao, a summer resort in Shandong and venue of the Olympic sailing competition. The other train coded 5034 was traveling from Yantai, Shandong to Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province.

At least 14 cars from both trains derailed. No foreign citizens were killed in the accident, but four French nationals were hospitalized with bone fractures.

Chinese authorities have already ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack. The preliminary investigation shows that human error is to blame for the accident.