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BEIJING, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Fifty-four people will be punished in the summer's fatal high-speed train crash, China's State Council announced Wednesday. A final investigation report, released Wednesday, indicated the crash resulted from major design flaws in train operating equipment, lax safety controls and poor emergency response to equipment failure, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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The State Council said China's former Railway Ministry Commissioner Liu Shijun and Deputy Commissioner Zhang Shuguang, along with China Railway Signal and Communication Corp. Chairman Ma Cheng, were the most culpable in the crash, Xinhua said.
On July 23, a high-speed train struck a stalled train near Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, killing 40 people and injuring 172. The report said a lightning strike caused one train to lose power and a signal failure led to the other train rear-ending the stalled train.
China Railway Signal and Communication Corp. manufactured the railway signaling system.
Police and prosecutors also are conducting investigations into whether the accident constitutes a crime, the State Council said.
