By Kathrin Hille in Beijing

Chinese censors are struggling to contain public and media reaction to the train crash that killed at least 39 people in Wenzhou last weekend and wrecked the image of the country?s high-speed rail network.

The Beijing News posed three direct questions across an entire page on Wednesday challenging the government?s handling of the tragedy – disregarding an official directive that its reporting should not ?question?, ?elaborate? or ?associate?.

The accident has highlighted the role China?s rapidly growing microblogs serve as part newswire, part complaints forum for citizens.Beijing aspires to censor microblogs but the controls are often no match for the speed or volume of outraged chatter. Suggestions that the authorities were crushing and burying damaged carriages were first posted on Sina Weibo, China?s leading microblog service.

Another Sina Weibo user has posted pictures of luxury watches sported by China?s railway minister at various public occasions, further fanning the flames of public outrage.

While traditional media are ordered not to pick up reports of local unrest that are routinely posted on microblogs, the crash has captured national attention in a way that state newspaper journalists said forced them to cover it aggressively.

?We got sucked in right away,? said one reporter on a Beijing newspaper who had been dispatched to the crash scene. ?I took this job because I want to be on the frontline when something happens.?

One Beijing News editor said: ?We are a commercial enterprise. We need to produce a paper that has what people want to read.?

Censors also warned against investigative reports or commentary, suggesting that the media should instead focus on how people will overcome the tragedy with love.

But 21st Century Business Herald published a story on Wednesday questioning delays in the investigation.

Its website also ran, under the headline ?Hymn Charts? a selection of enthusiastic and boastful remarks government officials had previously made about train technology and safety.

Wen Jiabao, China?s media-savvy premier who is regularly employed to burnish the government?s image with displays of sympathy for disaster victims, is due to fly to Wenzhou today.

? The Financial Times Limited 2011