BEIJING - Wang Mengshu, an expert investigator into July's Wenzhou train crash, refuted a newspaper's report late Monday, saying he was misquoted about the cause of the deadly accident.

Wang refuted The Beijing Times' report Monday that poor management was to blame for the fatal high-speed train collision, which overturned preliminary investigation results attributing the accident mainly to the serious design flaws in railway signaling equipment.

"Based on our probe and a simulated recreation of the accident, the major problem was not technology, but the loopholes in management," the newspaper cited Wang as saying.

However, Wang said what he told the newspaper's reporter only represented his own opinions, and they were misused in the report.

"The reporter said he wanted to know about the probe, and asked why the investigative report had not been made public. I said, don't worry, the State Council investigatory panel will release the correct and comprehensive results," said Wang, deputy head of an expert investigating team.

He said he had not given all his attention to the probe as he was tied up by his own job, and therefore did not get the whole picture of the investigation, especially the final conclusions. Neither did he know whether the report had been submitted or not.

"The phone conversation with the reporter was neither authorized by the investigatory panel nor the expert team. It was all my own opinions, rather than views of the expert team or the panel," Wang said.

He said he was shocked and worried upon reading the media report which was misleading.

On July 23, a high-speed train rammed into a stalled train near the city of Wenzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang on July 23, leaving 40 dead and 191 injured.

The State Council soon established an investigatory panel to investigate the accident.

Wang, who also holds the position as deputy chief engineer of the China Railway Tunnel Group, was appointed by the State Council to be deputy head of the expert team that assists the panel.

The investigative report was previously due in mid-September. But the State Administration of Work Safety then said they need more time to complete the probe, and the results have not yet been fully disclosed.