Rescuers evacuate a passenger at the site of the train derail accident in Rongjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, June 4, 2022. (Xinhua)

China's national railway authority announced on Friday the cause of the D2809 train derailment which left one dead and 12 others injured, stating that the accident was mainly due to a mudslide caused by continuous rainfall, according to preliminary investigations.

Bullet train D2809 departing from Guiyang to Guangzhou came off the tracks at around 10:30 am on June 4 in Rongjiang county, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, leaving one train driver dead and 12 others injured. Among the injured were two members of the crew and 10 passengers. 

The train hit mud and rockslide debris which had suddenly fallen onto the tracks as the region recorded continuous rainfall over several days, causing two carriages to come off the tracks, An Lusheng, vice administrator of National Railway Administration said at Friday's press conference. 

An felt deeply saddened by the accident and noted that railway authorities immediately launched an emergency response and quickly dispatched a working group to the site, coordinating with the local government on rescue operations following the incident.

Yang Yong, the train driver, who died during the accident, spotted a track abnormality as the train passed through a tunnel, and quickly instituted emergency braking measures within five seconds that only made the train slide over 900 meters, China Railway said on Saturday, after analyzing on-board data.

The accident has sounded an alarm for the high traffic railway and highway networks on how to reduce safety risks during frequent abnormal weather conditions.

After the accident, railway authorities immediately carried out a safety inspection amid the flood season, especially for key areas and key lines undertaking a comprehensive investigation of hidden dangers, according to An.  

At the same time, early warning mechanism has been further improved to strengthen the early warning and natural disasters monitoring, An confirmed.

Global Times