Media pins fault of rail accident on team leader

A preliminary investigation of an accident in which four rail workers were killed and one was injured when a train struck them in Liaoning province revealed that one victim broke safety rules, media reported on Wednesday.

However, the railway authority in Shenyang, the province's capital city, has not confirmed the finding.

According to an interior brief report on the accident conducted by the China Railway Corporation, train D28 ran into five rail workers who were crossing the railway in Panjin around 11:10 am on Nov 22, The Beijing News said.

The train traveling from Harbin to Beijing was supposed to arrive 20 minutes earlier.

The four workers who died, including three rookies who just graduated from colleges or vocational schools, were in their 20s, and the one who was injured was their team leader. He is in stable condition.

The investigation report said the team leader led the four workers to cross the railway unprotected to take a break in a closed section of the track.

He did not contact the command center before the move, according to the report.

However, the Shenyang railway bureau, which oversees the region where the accident occurred, has not confirmed the report.