54 to be punished over bullet train crash
A total of 54 people found responsible for the bullet train crash that killed 40 people in July will be punished, the State Council announced Wednesday.
The fatal accident occured when a high-speed train rammed into a stalled train near the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province on July 23, leaving 40 people dead and 172 wounded.
Liu Zhijun, the country's former railway minister, Zhang Shuguang, the railway ministry's deputy chief engineer, and Ma Cheng, former chairman of board at China Railway Signal and Communication Corp.(CRSC), producer of the railway signaling system, were held chiefly responsible for the crash.
Liu and Zhang were removed from office over an alleged "severe violation of discipline" earlier this year.
A lightning strike caused train D3115 lose power and a signaling failure led train D301 to rear-end D3115, according to the report.
The probe, which lasted more than 180 days, found that besides major design flaws, there had been relaxed safety controls and poor emergency response to equipment failure behind the tragedy.
Police and prosecutors are independently investigating into whether the accident constitutes a crime, the State Council said.
The accident has exposed that the MOR and the Shanghai Railway Bureau had failed to act properly after the accident and were unable to disclose relevant information on issues of social concern, leaving a negative social influence, said the report.
The CRSC also did not fulfill its responsibility, as its chaotic management at its research institute has caused the design flaws and major safety loopholes, it said.
The Ministry of Railways(MOR) said it will pay 915,000 yuan (145,007 U.S. dollars) in compensation for each victim of the high-speed train crash, but it has not reached agreements with families of three foreign victims.
