Aluminum ore train accident kills at least 4, raising security concerns

A train carrying aluminium ore derailed in a central Chinese province, killing at least four people, local authorities said Thursday, in the latest in a series of industrial accidents to strike the country. The city government of Gongy in Henan province said the train crashed into a village home after jumping the tracks around 10 p.m. Wednesday. Two other people were listed as missing, it said.

The 25-car train is owned by a subsidiary of Aluminum Corporation of China and ran on a 22-kilometre track built in the 1950s especially for transporting ore. The TV footage showed tangled cars from the train spread across a forested area.

China experiences frequent industrial accidents despite orders from the central government to improve safety at factories, power plants and mines or risk prosecution. Skirting of safety regulations — sometimes with the collusion of corrupt local officials — is generally given as the cause.

In March, 78 people were killed in a blast at a chemical plant that had numerous safety violations in one of China's worst industrial accidents in recent years. In November, at least 22 people were killed and scores of vehicles destroyed in an explosion outside a chemical plant in the northeastern city of Zhangjiakou, which will host competitions in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

(With inputs from agencies.)