Nine people remain in critical condition after fatal UK train crash

LONDON: Nine people remain in a critical condition following a train crash on Friday (June 19) near Bedford, about 100 km north of London, in which the driver of one of the services was killed.

Two passenger trains bound for London collided at around 5.15 p.m. local time (1615 GMT) on Friday. The driver of one of the trains died at the scene.

Providing an update on those injured in the crash on Saturday, British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi said more than 80 people had received hospital treatment on Friday night.

"As of this morning, 28 remain in hospital, and nine are in a critical condition," she said.

Investigators were working to establish what caused the accident, D'Orsi added.

A video posted on social media by one of the passengers on Friday showed what appeared to be the damaged front of one train entangled with the back of another, with the carriages remaining upright.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer described it as a "devastating incident" in a post on X.

King Charles' Buckingham Palace also issued a statement, saying: "His Majesty is greatly saddened by the rail crash in Bedford yesterday evening and is being kept regularly updated on developments.

"His thoughts and sympathies are with the family of the deceased and with all those injured or affected by such a tragic incident."

"EARLY TO SPECULATE"

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said it was "too early to speculate" on the cause of the crash while vowing "a thorough investigation ... to ensure that lessons are learnt".

A passenger on one of the trains, Paul Cavin, told the BBC: "We had stopped, and suddenly we were hit from behind pretty bad."

"There were people injured on my carriage," he said, adding he could see many wounded people walking away from the trains, some with "smashed up noses".

The East of England Ambulance Service said Saturday that 11 people sustained "very serious" injuries, while a further 32 suffered serious wounds and 56 others had minor injuries.

It dispatched more than 20 ambulances, specialist hazardous area rescue teams, along with six air ambulances.

The area's fire and rescue service said it mobilised over 20 fire and specialist vehicles, and at the height of the response, more than 70 firefighters and officers were involved at the scene.

Another passenger, Brett Byatt, told BBC radio it felt "surreal" the morning after and that he had "moved into the stage of anger now".

"I don't know at whom," he added. "But it's more about (the fact) we've got one of the oldest railway networks and signal failures happen a lot... Why wasn't that signalled to my train?"

Officials have not said whether signalling issues played a role in the collision.

PROFOUNDLY SAD

EMR's managing director, Will Rogers, called it "a profoundly sad day for the railway community".

"We are deeply saddened that our driver has tragically died, and a number of other people have suffered injuries," he said, speaking at the scene alongside other officials.

He noted the train operator was "fully supporting" the RAIB probe.

Train collisions are relatively rare in the United Kingdom.

In September 2023, several people were injured after two trains collided at Aviemore station in the Scottish Highlands.

The crash happened on the Strathspey Railway, a heritage railway run separately from mass-transit public services, and involved a stationary carriage and another train in the station.

In August 2020, an early morning service from Aberdeen to Glasgow came off the tracks, killing three people and injuring six near the town of Stonehaven, northeast Scotland, after a landslip caused by heavy rain.

Network Rail, an arm of the UK Department for Transport, pleaded guilty in 2023 to safety failings at a court hearing, and the public body was fined £6.7 million ($8.4 million).