Rescuers work at the site where two passenger trains collided at Chenzhou railway station in central China's Hunan Province, June 29, 2009. Two passenger trains collided at Chenzhou railway station early Monday, leaving at least three people dead and 60 others injured. (Xinhua/Li Ga) Photo Gallery>>>

    CHANGSHA, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Two passenger trains collided in central China early Monday, leaving at least three people dead and 63 injured.

    The accident took place at 2:34 a.m. at Chenzhou railway station in Hunan Province, said an official from Guangzhou Railway Group, which operates the station and the trains involved in the crash.

    All the injured had been taken to nearby hospitals. Six of them are in serious condition, local doctors said.

    Train K9017 from the provincial capital Changsha to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and train K9063 from Tongren, Guizhou Province, to Shenzhen collided, driving several carriages off the tracks.

    The K9017 locomotive and its first five cars as well as the K9063 locomotive and its first two cars were derailed, the official said.

    A conductor with K9017 said that the train was about to pull in when the accident happened.

    "I don't know why it didn't stop at the station," said the unnamed conductor. "Instead, it rushed into K9063, which just started."

    One of the trains crashed into two nearby houses, causing them to collapse.

    "A strong voice pulled me out of dream," said Wang Manju, whose house is next to the station. She was astonished when she opened the door, to see the alley filled with dust and an overturned carriage.

    "The train was twisted. Parts seemed to be torn down. I called the police after hearing screaming from the train," Wang said.

    Two bodies were found in the store in front of Wang's house. The two, buried in the debris, were a mother surnamed Li and her son.

    "It was terrible to look at," Wang said.

    The fourth car of the K9017 was the most seriously damaged, rescuers said.

    Yuan Shuxian, a student in her early 20s from Guangdong Province, had four stitches in her leg.

    Recalling her horrible experience in the train, Yuan said that as she didn't have a ticket for a seat, she was standing at the joint between the fourth and the fifth carriages when the accident happened.

    "Suddenly the train began to wobble, so violently that it was like a ship in the sea and I could hardly stand," she said.

    "Then I saw sparks from the train, before all the lights went off ... It was fearful and my heart seems to break. My mind went totally blank," she continued.

    Several seconds later, she heard people shouting and crying in the darkness. A crack appeared in the floor of the train and many people jumped out.

    "I didn't know how deep it could be, but I jumped with my classmates," she said.

    They waited outside for about ten minutes before an ambulance arrived to take them to a local hospital.

    A freshman from the Hunan Mass Media Vocational Technical College who only gave his surname as Xie was sitting on a seat in the fourth car at that time.

    "Suddenly a massive force pushed me to the floor," he said.

    Then the train went dark and the roof was ripped open.

    "People were crying and screaming," he said. "Someone stepped on me to pass."

    The 64-year-old Mao Yiyou from Shaoshan village was on his way to visit his daughter in Guangdong. He suffered head trauma and one of his eyes was bleeding, but he managed to remain conscious.

    "I was like a stone ejected out of the train when the accident happened," he said.

    "When I fell on the ground, I felt for my body, and there was blood everywhere," he said.

    But at that time Mao didn't feel hurt. He was numb.

    During interviews with Xinhua reporters, many passengers who suffered slight injuries said they wanted to get their luggage back as soon as possible and return home safely.

    "Our mobile phones are in our bags and it was dark when the accident happened so we had no chance to get the phones. We have lost contact with our relatives, who must be worried about us," Xie said.

    Forty-four, or most of the injured passengers, are being treated at the No. 4 People's Hospital nearby.

    According to Chen Jinglin, vice president of the hospital, more than 130 doctors and nurses were busy tending the patients, two of whom are in critical condition.

    "The injured mainly suffered fractures, brain traumas, belly injuries or contusions," he said. More than 30 volunteers in red caps are helping the nurses to take care of the injured as their relatives had not arrived.

    Electricity supply at the station was also cut, rescuers said, giving no information about when it would be resumed.

    Services in one direction of the rail line resumed at 10 a.m. and the other resumed at 2:30 p.m., said the official.

    Thousands of passengers had been stranded in Chenzhou Railway Station. More than 50 buses had been sent to transport them to their destinations.

    As of midday, almost 1,000 passengers had been transported by 26 buses to Guangdong Province, the official said.

    The accident delayed several trains on the Beijing-Guangzhou line. Two trains were cancelled, said a staff with the Guangzhou railway station.

    Many people picking up their relatives from Hunan were waiting on a square of the railway station in rain.

    "My boy from Shaoyang (of Hunan) is supposed to arrive at 8 a.m., but it is nearly 4 p.m. now, the train still hasn't come and I lost contact with him," said someone anxiously.

    Railways Minister Liu Zhijun has gone to Chenzhou, 300 kilometers from Changsha, capital of Hunan, to oversee the rescue work.

    A task force by the ministry and the Guangzhou Railway Group is set up to investigate into the cause of the accident.

    A fatal train collision happened on April 28 last year in east China's Shandong Province when two passenger trains collided, leaving 72 dead and 416 injured. The railway was interrupted for more than 21 hours.

    Investigation showed the Shandong accident was caused by speeding. Minister Liu was given a demerit by the State Council as a discipline punishment.

A train rolls by the site where two passenger trains collided at Chenzhou railway station in central China's Hunan Province, June 29, 2009. Two passenger trains collided at Chenzhou railway station early Monday, leaving at least three people dead and 60 others injured. (Xinhua/Li Ga) Photo Gallery>>>

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