A cargo train heading east on a trunk line connecting the eastern and western parts of regions south of the Yangtze River derailed Wednesday morning.

Sources from the Nanchang Railway Administration of east China' s Jiangxi Province said the derailment took place on the Wenjiazhen-Xiangtang section of the Hangzhou-Zhuzhou railway line at 9:05 am.

Traffic on the railway line was halted because of the derailment, said the sources.

According to the sources, the bureau has sent rescue workers to the site of the accident.

The cause of the accident is under further investigation.

The 947-km Hangzhou-Zhuzhou railway line starts at Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, and ends at Zhuzhou, a major city in central China's Hunan Province, after traversing Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2003)