Nine people in critical condition after train crash
Twenty-eight people remain in hospital – nine of them in a critical condition – after a train crash near Bedford, police have said.
A train driver was killed and 100 people injured when two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services to London St Pancras collided at 17:15 BST on Friday.
Eleven people were very seriously injured, a further 32 were described as injured and 57 had minor injuries, East of England Ambulance Service confirmed.
Speaking near the scene on Saturday, Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi of British Transport Police (BTP) said the crash was being investigated and asked people to refrain from speculating about what happened.
She said the force’s deepest condolences were with the driver’s family, his friends, and his colleagues.
“The driver’s family, as you would expect, are being supported by specially trained officers at this difficult time,” she added.
EPA/ShutterstockBTP declared a major incident following the collision, which took place at about 17:15 BST, just south of Elstow, near the road interchange of the A421 and A6.
EMR services to and from London St Pancras have been suspended throughout the weekend, with trains starting and ending journeys in Bedford.
“There will of course be a lot of questions as to what happened last night,” added D’Orsi.
“I would like to reassure everyone that specialist investigators from BTP are working with colleagues at the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to gather the facts and determine what has happened.
“They are extremely experienced, and I would ask that we all refrain from speculation.”
PA MediaShe praised all who responded to the incident for their “absolutely incredible work in tragic and challenging circumstances” and thanked local people who showed their “immense kindness” to passengers stranded on trains, and to casualties.
Multiple air ambulance helicopters, road vehicles and some 70 firefighters were involved in the immediate aftermath.
Will Rogers, managing director of EMR, said it was on the scene with Network Rail and emergency services to ensure those affected got the care and support they needed.
“This is a profoundly sad day for the rail community,” he added.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said the union was “devastated” to learn the driver, a former RMT rep, had died.
TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/ShutterstockThe two trains involved were the 16:40 EMR train from Corby and the 15:50 Nottingham to London St Pancras service.
Dr Peter Knapp, who was travelling in the front carriage of the train that went into the other, said: “When I got up, I saw all of the chairs everywhere. It felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.
“When I got up, I saw people’s bloodied faces and people’s legs looked broken and there was smoke everywhere.”
Shola Mene said she heard a “big bang” and “people flew from their seats”.
“There was a lot of blood. A lot of people had facial injuries,” she added.
Teresa Itabor, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, said she had been heading to the capital to celebrate her birthday.
“We left Bedford station and there was a massive bang… I didn’t know what was going on. My head hit the seat in front of me,” she said.
“I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” by the news of the collision and the death.
“We will make sure that there’s a thorough investigation done to establish how this collision happened and to ensure that lessons are learned so that we don’t have an incident like this ever again,” she said on Friday.
“The UK railways are some of the safest in the world,” she added. “It’s very unusual for this to happen on the network.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the incident as “deeply concerning”, adding: “My thoughts are with the family of the person who has sadly lost their life, and with those who have been seriously injured.”
EMR has advised travellers to use alternative routes over the weekend, saying tickets that had already been bought could be used at no extra cost to travel with other operators.
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