Driver killed, 28 hospitalised after UK train collision

UK accident investigators were on Saturday probing the cause of a train collision north of London which killed a driver and injured scores of passengers, nine critically. The crash Friday afternoon near Bedford, a town around 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of the British capital, involved two London-bound trains on the same track, according to East Midlands Railway (EMR), which operates both services. 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”. British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi said in an update Saturday near the scene that more than 80 people had been treated for injuries in hospital and 28 remained there. “Nine are in a critical condition,” she added. Police had earlier confirmed that the driver of one of the trains had died at the scene. D’Orsi said that “specialist investigators from British Transport Police are working with colleagues at the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) to gather the facts and determine what has happened”. Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying King Charles was “greatly saddened” by the crash and sent “his thoughts and sympathies” to the dead man’s family and to those injured. 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 11 people sustained “very serious” injuries, while a further 32 suffered serious wounds and 56 others had minor impacts. 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. Officials have not said whether signalling issues played a role in the collision.