Two passenger trains collided in central China early Monday, leaving at least three people dead and 60 injured, Xinhua reported.
The accident took place at 2:34 am at Chenzhou railway station in Hunan Province, said an official from Guangzhou Railway Group, which operates station and the trains involved in the crash.
Train K9017 from provincial capital Changsha to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and another train K9063 from Tongren, Guizhou Province, to Shenzhen collided, driving several carriages off the tracks.
The K9017 engine and the first five carriages as well as the K9036 engine and the first two carriages were derailed, the official said.
One of the trains crashed into two nearby houses, causing them to collapse.
The fourth carriage of the K9017 was the most seriously damaged, rescuers said.
The electricity supply was also cut, rescuers said giving no information about when it would be resumed.
Services in one direction of the line resumed at 10 a.m. while the other side was still blocked, said the official.
Thousands of passengers had been stranded in the Chenzhou Railway Station. More than 50 buses had been sent to transport them to their destinations.
As of midday, almost 1,000 passengers had been transported by 26 buses to Guangdong Province, the official said.
All the injured had been taken to nearby hospitals.
Railways Minister Liu Zhijun has gone to Chenzhou, 300 kilometers from Changsha, capital of Hunan, to oversee the rescue work.
The ministry and the provincial government are investigating the cause of the accident.