A total of 54 people found responsible for the bullet train crashthat killed 40 people in July will be punished, the State Council announced Wednesday.
The fatal accident occured when a high-speed train rammed intoa stalled train near the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province onJuly 23, leaving 40 people dead and 172 wounded.
Liu Zhijun, the country's former railway minister, Zhang Shuguang, the railway ministry's deputychief engineer, and Ma Cheng, former chairman of board at China Railway Signal andCommunication Corp.(CRSC), producer of the railway signaling system, were held chieflyresponsible for the crash.
Liu and Zhang were removed from office over an alleged "severe violation of discipline" earlier thisyear.
A lightning strike caused train D3115 lose power and a signaling failure led train D301 to rear-endD3115, according to the report.
The probe, which lasted more than 180 days, found that besides major design flaws, there hadbeen relaxed safety controls and poor emergency response to equipment failure behind thetragedy.
Police and prosecutors are independently investigating into whether the accident constitutes acrime, the State Council said.
The accident has exposed that the MOR and the Shanghai Railway Bureau had failed to actproperly after the accident and were unable to disclose relevant information on issues of socialconcern, leaving a negative social influence, s aid the report.
The CRSC also did not fulfill its responsibility, as its chaotic management at its research institute hascaused 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 compensationfor each victim of the high-speed train crash, but it has not reached agreements with families ofthree
foreign victims.
Of the 172 injured passengers, the ministry has signed agreements with 101 people that providecompensation of more than 7.5 billion yuan as of Dec. 21.
The July accident has caused public fury and discontent over reckless growth nd governmentignorance of safety management.
Railway minister Sheng Guangzu is required to make a thorough self-criticism and present it to theState Council, according to the meeting.
At a MOR conference after the meeting, Sheng said the July train crash has exposed weak links inrailway safety management and taught a serious lesson.
Sheng said that the ministry has failed the nation and its people, and he expressed deepcondolences to victims of the accident and sincere apologies to the injured.
The State Council has also concluded a safety overhaul on high-speed rail links and ongoing railwayprojects that was launched after the accident, and announced measures to fix safety loopholesexposed during the inspection.
The railway ministry has urged the local units to moderately slow high-speed trains at newly-opened links, complete emergency response plans, recall equipment with hidden dangers, andenhance work-safety training.
The railway ministry has been acting as both the regulator and operator of China's railway systemsince its establishment.
