Rail worker derailed train: police

A disgruntled railway worker allegedly orchestrated the derailment of a passenger train that injured 15 people in Northeast China's Heilongjaing Province on Sunday, a report said on Wednesday.

Wu Zhenjin, leader of a railway maintenance team at Harbin Railway Station, disconnected 12 meters of track possibly to vent his frustration at not being promoted six months earlier, the Chinese Business Morning Post reported.

The K7034 express train from Heihe to Harbin derailed in the city of Suihua at 3:17 am on Sunday. No deaths were reported.

Investigators believed the tracks must have been cut with professional tools, reported the newspaper based in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, citing anonymous sources in the team.

Wu was then singled out and arrested, the report said, for his "abnormal behavior" before the accident, without further elaborating.

Police denied online rumors Wu had had a fierce quarrel with his boss before the incident.

Wu also came to the accident site and participated in the rescue.

"Sources within the railway system" told the newspaper they were surprised Wu was a suspect, noting he had worked for the railway a long time and had a "very satisfactory family life."

A staff member from Harbin Railway Public Security Bureau declined to talk about the case to the Global Times, worrying that the incident could have "great repercussions."

He referred the reporter to the public security bureau of the China Railway Corporation.

Calls to the corporation went unanswered till late Wednesday. Harbin Railway Station could not be reached.