At least 100 people were still receiving hospital treatment yesterday after inhaling fumes when the train they were on broke down in a tunnel, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The N91 train from Harbin to Manzhouli broke down at around 4 AM on Monday, coming to a halt in a three-kilometer-long tunnel in Hulunbuir League of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

In the poorly ventilated tunnel, smoke from the train's diesel engine soon poured into carriages through gaps between doors and windows.

Many of the more than 1,000 passengers aboard, most of whom were asleep, were poisoned by the fumes, developing headaches and nausea.

One passenger, Liu Hongren, told Heilongjiang Morning Post that when he woke up there was a lot of smoke inside the train.

"The aisle was full of billowing smoke and many people were coughing badly," he said. "It was pitch-dark outside and at first I thought the train was on fire."

Liu, along with many others, stumbled through the carriage to the door, looking to escape the smoke. The conductor told passengers to be calm and not to try and break the windows or jump out of the train.

"The conductor asked us to return to our seats and cover our mouths and noses with a wet towel," he said. "People's faces and clothes were stained by the smoke."

Liu received a drip and oxygen at Hailar Hospital and was discharged yesterday.

The train was stranded in the tunnel for about half an hour before being towed out by another locomotive.

The most seriously affected passengers were taken to the nearby People's Hospital in Yakeshi.

Other passengers suffering from fume inhalation were transported from Hailar and Manzhouli stations.

An anonymous nurse at the Yakeshi hospital said about 30 passengers treated there were diagnosed with carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide poisoning.

"None of the passengers are in a life-threatening condition," she said.

Yin Na, a worker at Hailar station, told China Daily that more than 70 passengers got off the train there for treatment at the local railway hospital.

About 40 passengers were still receiving treatment at Manzhouli hospital yesterday, the website of China National Radio reported.

(China Daily November 9, 2005)