Violation of operation rules was blamed for causing the traffic accident in east China's Shandong Province that killed 18 people, said a local official on Saturday.

According to rules, only full-time employees were allowed to work on railways. However, the about 100 people relocating the tracks were all migrant workers without safety trainings and their team had no operation license, said Chen Gong, head of the Jinan Railway Bureau of Shandong.

Chen said that according to plan, railway track adjustment was carried out from 10:00 PM on Wednesday to 1:30 AM on Thursday. In the period of time, trains passing by were required to slow down their speed.

The workers, however, entered the work site ahead of schedule.

The accident happened at 8:48 PM, when a high-speed train ran across the work site in Anqiu, killing 18 workers and injuring 9 others.

The China Railway 16th Group Co. Ltd. in charge of the project should be fully responsible for the accident and relevant persons punished, Chen said.

The injured are in stable condition and out of danger, and two of them have been discharged from hospital, according to Chen.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2008)