Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    WUDU, Gansu, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A 40-car freight train, which included 12 tankers full of gasoline, derailed inside a tunnel and caught fire on Monday in northwest China following the southwest China earthquake, cutting the Baoji-Chengdu railway, officials said on Tuesday.

    The train was still burning at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, more than 26 hours after the accident in Huixian County, Gansu Province. Firefighters, who had moved six kilometers from the site for fear the tankers could explode, have resumed work to extinguish the fire.

    More than 1,600 local residents were evacuated, an official with the Huixian County disaster relief headquarters said.

    The heat of the blaze could be felt 100 meters away.

    The train just entered the tunnel in Huixian County at 2:28 p.m. on Monday when the massive quake struck. The train had been en route from Baoji, Shaanxi Province to Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, said Wang Hongtao, deputy director of the Xi'an Railway Bureau's general office.

    Huge rocks blocked the tunnel exit. The driver put on the brakes, but the train still hit the rocks at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, leading to the derailment of the locomotive and 38 carriages, Wang added.

    The locomotive caught fire first, and flames then engulfed the tankers.

    Two train drivers were injured and have been sent to hospital. They were recovering on Tuesday afternoon.

    Vice Minister of Railways Lu Chunfang and officials of the Xi'an Railway Bureau arrived at the site at 1 a.m. on Tuesday for fire control operation.