Speeding caused Monday's deadly train collision in east China that killed 70 people and injured 416 others, the investigation panel set up by the State Council said on Tuesday.

A high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao, coded T195, veered off the rails in the city of Zibo at about 4:40 a.m. on Monday. The derailed coaches smashed into another train, coded 5034, which was approaching in the opposite direction along an adjacent track.

Investigators had said on Monday that T195 was traveling at 131 kilometers per hour before the accident, far in excess of the section's speed limit of 80 km/hour.

Wang Jun, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, who headed an investigation panel established on Tuesday, vowed there would be a "comprehensive, scientific, fair and objective" investigation into the accident.

"Experts with the panel will investigate the rail bed, trains and the train operating system and check for violations of safety rules," he said. "Those found responsible will be severely punished according to the law."

Two top officials of the Jinan Railway Bureau, bureau director Chen Gong and Communist Party chief Chai Tiemin, were sacked just hours after the accident. They face investigations by the Ministry of Railways.

As of Tuesday, the identities of 26 people killed had been confirmed. Wang said all the injured have been hospitalized and the dead have been transferred to local funeral homes. The accident site has been cleaned up and the stranded passengers evacuated, he added.

Editor: Yan