Two trains crashed on 19th June, killing one train driver and seriously injuring dozens of people on one of the trains north of London. One passenger reported being thrown forward by the impact and then witnessing others in the train with broken bones and bloodied from the crash.
At the time of the crash at about 5.15 pm, both trains were heading to London St. Pancras station, according to data on rail tracking websites. A range of resources was brought into the scene by emergency services, including an air ambulance and hazardous incident team personnel from the East of England Ambulance Service.
Police claim in a statement that a number of people have been injured and one person has sadly died. A major incident has been declared, and police are continuing to attend the scene with colleagues from Bedfordshire Police and the local Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services.
Later, the East of England Ambulance Service said it had received 11 with “very serious” injuries, 22 with “serious” injuries and 56 with “minor” injuries.
The worker killed was a train driver, and the accident was caused by a failure to maintain the equipment, said Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.
A man in the rear of the train, Peter Knapp, said he was there and had no warning of the collision.
There was a moment when Knapp felt “flung” into the chair in front, and then she saw smoke, then people crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused,” Knapp said.
“I got up, and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs,” he added.
“And then I managed to get out of the train, and because I’m quite thin, I was able to squeeze out through the gap in the doors.”
Images shared on social media of hundreds of people, some with facial bandages and others seemingly unhurt, stood and sat amongst emergency vehicles that were parked on a road that runs parallel to the train line.
Many railway workers who belong to the RMT union were reported to be keeping a close watch on the situation, while they expressed concern about the reports of “serious injuries” by the railway staff and passengers.
In a statement, East Midlands Railway said the 4:40 pm service from Corby to St. Pancras was involved in the accident with the 3:50 pm service from Nottingham. It has scrapped all trains this Friday to and from St. Pancras and could not confirm plans for Saturday, the company said.
