“HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?” TRAIN CRASH HORROR — Driver k!ll3d as dozens left fighting for life
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?
Nine people still fighting for life after Bedford train crash that killed driver & injured 99 as urgent probe launched
NINE people are still fighting for their life after last night’s Bedford train crash that killed a driver and injured 99 others.
An urgent probe has been launched into the fatal smash – which has the highest number of casualties in a rail disaster in Britain for 20 years.
Police have remained at the scene as they try to piece together the collisionCredit: Sky News
Investigators at the scene of the fatal train smash on the line between Luton and BedfordCredit: Getty
The two trains were heading to London St PancrasCredit: SWNS
Video footage shows people with bloodied faces in the carriagesCredit: SWNS
Passengers told of their horror – with injured commuters left “spitting out blood” in scenes like a “bomb had gone off”.
In an update this afternoon, the police revealed there are nine passengers still in a critical condition.
Three more suffered very serious injuries, 56 people had minor injuries and 32 were deemed serious injuries, according to official figures.
One traveller estimated 90 per cent of his carriage were seriously injured and left unable to stand or move their necks.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Brett Byatt said: “I’d probably say 90 per cent of the people on my carriage had injuries, I’d probably say from three to four of us were uninjured in a full carriage.
“Everyone else had either a serious wound that was bleeding profusely, or a situation where they couldn’t stand, or couldn’t move their neck, or I saw a woman’s snapped leg.”
He added there was a “boom” and then people “went flying into one another”.
Mr Byatt also slammed the way the trains were designed, he said: ” the way that they’re structured with seats, was probably the worst way it could have been structured for a train crash.”
One passenger estimates 90 per cent of his carriage were injured in the crashCredit: AFP
Passengers on the train describe how the crash felt like a bomb going offCredit: Bav Media
One passenger said people went flying around the carriage after the crashCredit: Bav Media
Elsewhere, The King has said he is “greatly saddened” – as today police remain on the scene.
Massive questions have since been raised following the tragedy with an inquest into how the smash could have happened underway.
Phil Haigh, a railways expert, said that train safety systems “are usually really, really reliable” and said he was “mystified” that the crash had happened at all.
“Unless there was a fault with the signalling system, or unless the driver passed a red signal,” the former editor of RAIL magazine added.
Meanwhile, rail journalist Tony Miles questioned how it could have happened with the crash appearing to have been a “relatively slow-speed collision”.
He told Sky News: “So, the question has to be how has that train that’s in the rear got into contact with the train that it was following, and obviously it’s either gone past the signal that was telling it it should stop, or the signal was faulty, or the driver’s made a mistake in some way, or didn’t read the signal, or something.
“Even if you’re going 40 miles an hour and you come to a halt in a few metres, you’ve got the energy of a 40-mile-an-hour body in you, and you’re going to move until you hit something, unfortunately.”
Harrowing footage taken from those on board shows dazed passengers looking around while injured commuters can be heard crying for help.
Other pieces of video – which The Sun has chosen not to publish – show travellers collapsed between seats covered in blood.
Teresa Itabor was on her way to London to celebrate her birthday when her train crashed into another.
She said: “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.”
Passenger Pete Knapp told BBC News: “The front carriage collided into the front of another one and when I got up I saw all of the chairs everywhere and it felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.
“When I got up I saw people with bloodied faces and people’s legs looked broken and there was smoke everywhere.
“I didn’t hear any explosions or slowing down of the train. Some people were spitting out blood. Lots of people are sat down. I can’t sit down because my back hurts so much.”
“I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere.”
Another passenger described an “almighty impact” as the moving train smashed into the stationary one.
Officials gave an update this afternoon as the probe continuesCredit: Sky News
Commuters have been urged not to travel following the horror crashCredit: Bluesky / Dr Pete Knapp
Simon Bentley, who was travelling with his wife, told the BBC: “I think [we’re] actually just really relieved that we’re both still here. We’re very lucky and obviously very, very sad about what’s happened to the driver,”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson has said King Charles’ “thoughts and sympathies are with the family of the deceased and with all those injured or affected by such a tragic incident”.
The driver who was killed was on the 4.40pm Corby train heading to London St Pancras, the train drivers union Aslef has confirmed.
Dave Calfe, the union’s general secretary said the whole railway network will be “feeling the sadness and sorrow” of his death”.
Multiple Air Ambulances were dispatched to the sceneCredit: Bav Media
The scene just south of the Elstow interchange between the A421 and the A6 in BedfordCredit: AFP
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We’re deeply saddened that a railway colleague has tragically died following the incident near Bedford.
“Our thoughts are with their family, friends and colleagues, and with everyone affected.”
In an update at lunchtime today, Chief Constable D’Orsi thanked the emergency services for their response alongside those who helped stranded passengers.
Especially “local people who showed immense kindness to those stranded on trains and to the casualties,” she said.
She added: “specialist investigators from the British Transport Police are working with colleagues at the rail accident branch to gather facts and determine what happened.”
Both trains were headed for London with the first, a 3.50pm service from Nottingham to St Pancras, stopping with a safety fault.
It was running 18 minutes late when the 4.40pm Corby train, which had stopped at Bedford station two minutes earlier, slammed into the back of it.
Qunnie Wu, 24, a student at De Montfort University in Leicester, told The Sun about the chaos ensuing the crash.
She said: “Everyone involved was very badly hurt. Some people had blood coming from eyes, nose and mouth.
“People were screaming and crying. They were screaming for help. When I cried, a lot of people came to comfort me.
Uppingham College student Newton Xu, 18, was travelling to London after having completed his last A-level exam on Friday morning.
He said: “I was with my friend but I lost contact with him. He’s in hospital. He seemed to be quite injured. We are lucky.
Two trains collided near Bedford, killing a driver and injuring 89 othersCredit: X
The driver who died was on the Corby train it has been confirmedCredit: Reuters
“I was looking out the window and it was as if I just woke up and it was chaos.
“My friend was lying on the floor and couldn’t move. He’d hurt his leg. I hope he’s ok.”
Shocking photos showed a one of the driver’s compartments severely damaged while other images from the scene showed people jumping from the battered carriages to escape.
Some were seen with bandaged, bloodied heads as they waited to go to hospital with the most severely injured airlifted by five air ambulances.
Fire and rescue, police, and the ambulance service all descended on the scene and treated casualties in a field in what was a huge emergency response.
This is the most serious rail accident since the fatal Grayrigg derailment in 2007 which saw 89 injured and one dead.
The horrendous crash in Cumbria was said to be caused by undetected faults on the mainline.
The train, which was London bound, derailed while travelling at 95mph and two carriages came off the track and down the bank.
cre: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/39480164/bedford-train-crash-horror/
