(Yicai) Oct. 30 -- Shares of Overseas Chinese Town, a loss-making pioneer of theme parks in China, fell after visitors were injured when two roller coaster trains collided at its 25-year-old amusement park in Shenzhen.

OCT [SHE: 000069] fell 1.9 percent to close at CNY3.64 (50 US cents) a share in Shenzhen today, or almost a third lower than at the start of this year.

Seventeen of 28 people remain in hospital following the collision at Happy Valley on Oct. 27, the Shenzhen-based firm said today, adding that none of their lives are in danger.

Founded in 1985, OCT specializes in cultural tourism and real estate and was the first Chinese company to open a large theme park in China. It owns the Happy Valley brand, with sites also in cities such as Beijing, Nanjing, and Wuhan, and runs Shenzhen's Window of the World, a theme park that features miniature replicas of famous world landmarks.

The committee of Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, where Happy Valley is located, said yesterday that four visitors were in intensive care due to craniocerebral injury or pelvic fractures, while 11 others had returned home.

OCT urged the theme park to cooperate with the authorities investigating the accident so as to resume operations as soon as possible, adding that the impact on its business is under control. The district committee said a decision has not yet been made on when the amusement park can reopen.

OCT's cultural tourism units welcomed almost 72.5 million visitors in the first three quarters of this year, up 55 percent from a year ago. Despite an 8 percent revenue increase to CNY31.8 billion (USD4.35 billion), it made a net loss of CNY3.3 billion (USD451 million) due to selling some real estate projects at a discount and absorbing some affiliates' losses.

The company had first-half revenue of CNY10.3 billion (USD1.4 billion) from its cultural tourism business, making up 53 percent of the total.

Editor: Emmi Laine