In brief
- Two trains travelling to London St Pancras station on Friday afternoon collided outside the town of Bedford, 100km north of London.
- 1 person has died, 11 people suffered very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured and 56 had minor injuries.
A train driver has died and dozens more injured in a collision between two commuter services in London on Friday.
Both trains were travelling south to London St Pancras station on Friday afternoon when they collided outside the town of Bedford, about 100km north of London. The trains were travelling from Corby and Nottingham respectively.
East Midlands Railway, which operated both London-bound trains involved in the crash, confirmed in a statement on X on Saturday that the driver of one of the services had been killed. The company had cancelled all trains to and from St Pancras for the rest of Friday and was unable to confirm the schedule for Saturday.
A video posted on social media by one of the passengers showed what appeared to be the front of one train entangled with the back of another, with the carriages appearing to remain upright on the tracks.
The East of England Ambulance Service said that in addition to a person who died at the scene, 11 people suffered very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured and 56 had minor injuries.
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"My thoughts are with the family of the person who has sadly lost their life, and with those who have been seriously injured," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
The cause of the incident was not immediately known, and transport minister Heidi Alexander said an investigation was underway.
Peter Knapp, a doctor who said on social media site Bluesky he was on board one of the trains, described a "sudden crash" with one carriage off the rails and said he had sustained minor injuries.
"There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke," Knapp said.
"People were crying, screaming. People were so scared and confused."
"I got up and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs," he said.
"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."
Various posts on social media showed dozens of people, some with bandages but many who appeared uninjured, standing and sitting among emergency vehicles parked on a road that runs parallel to the train tracks.
The RMT union, which represents many railway workers, said it was monitoring the situation and expressed its concern over reports of "serious injuries" suffered by both train staff and passengers.
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