6 now dead in Reading train accident

Six people were killed and 11 seriously injured after a high-speed train hit a car on a level crossing and derailed.

Dozens more were treated for minor cuts and bruises and many were trapped in the wreckage after the First Great Western service carrying 300 passengers ploughed into the car on the automatic crossing in countryside near Reading at around 6.30pm yesterday.

The driver of the train was among the fatalities.

Police refused to comment on reports that the car may have been deliberately driven on to the track outside the hamlet of Ufton Nervet.

Andy Trotter, Deputy Chief Constable of British Transport Police, said: “It’s far too early to comment.”

A statement released by First Great Western early this morning said: “Our thoughts are with our customers and staff who were involved in yesterday’s incident at Ufton Nervet in Berkshire.

“We would like to express condolences to the families of those customers and our driver who died in the incident.”

More than 20 ambulances and 14 fire engines rushed to the scene from surrounding counties as injured passengers were dragged from the wreckage.

All the trapped were freed by 11.30pm, said the fire service, but firefighters and police with dogs were searching the wreckage and surrounding fields until first light to ensure there were no other casualties lying nearby, said Mr Trotter.

Thames Valley Police said that at least eight carriages on the Paddington-to-Plymouth train had been derailed and one had split in two by the force of the impact.

Special heavy lifting equipment was at the scene of the incident, a police spokesman added.

John Divall, of the Royal Berkshire Ambulance Service, said: “There have been around 150 casualties. More than 100 of them are walking wounded and some of them have been taken by coach to Royal Berkshire Hospital and some to North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke.”

Sixty-one patients were treated at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, of whom 10 were seriously injured.

The North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke treated a further 25 less-serious patients.

A number of emergency doctors went to the scene to treat casualties.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Berkshire Hospital said doctors had treated patients for fractures, cuts, chest pain and chest and pelvic injuries.

Thames Valley Police set up an emergency line for people who feared their relatives might be on the train. The number is 0870 0100 732.

One local who went to the scene, Tim Grundy, said the crash site was a scene of “absolute devastation”.

Near the accident scene, at least six mangled carriages were clearly visible under the lights emergency crews had set up to assist their operation.

At least two of the carriages were on their side at acute angles to the railway track and police were using sniffer dogs to search the surrounding fields for people who may have stumbled out of the wreckage and collapsed.

Other carriages were visible still on the track.

BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Jonny Saunders, who was on the train, told of the chaos in the crash.

“Suddenly there was this extraordinary stopping sensation. I immediately thought someone had pulled the emergency cord, but it carried on, carried on, and came to a juddering halt,” he said.

“Suddenly all the lights went off, screaming, shouting, we were in the pitch black, then total chaos in the carriage for a few moments.”

A Network Rail spokesman said the accident happened at an automatic level crossing with half-barriers on each side of the road.

Mr Grundy said one of the train’s carriages looked “like a baguette which someone had twisted at both ends, destroying the middle”.

Local farmer Richard Benyon was at the scene shortly after the crash.

“I know the crossing well. We use it every day on the farm. In my lifetime there has never been an accident there,” he said.

“You can go round at the barrier if you are stupid enough, but I cannot believe somebody got confused.”

A First Great Western spokesman later said rail services were being diverted via Swindon. The line is expected to remain closed for some days until the wreckage is cleared and the track made safe.

Three railway inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive’s HM Railway Inspectorate were at the scene.

They will start an investigation into the accident as soon as the emergency services have carried out their rescue work. Emergency teams continued to work throughout the night under giant spotlights.

Ambulance and police officers and Network Rail staff remained at the site and a police forensic investigation unit and three diggers arrived in the early hours.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said a press conference would be held at 10am and the media could be allowed to visit the accident site later in the day. A spokeswoman for the Royal Berkshire Hospital said this morning that 46 of the 61 patients the hospital received had been discharged with the remaining 15 admitted.

Of those, nine were described as having “minor” injuries, four described as “serious but stable”, and one was in a life-threatening condition. Another one patient had been transferred to another hospital.

In a statement, the hospital said: “Non-major incident-related emergency patients have been diverted to neighbouring hospitals while the hospital has been dealing with casualties from the incident.

“The hospital started to stand down from its major incident status at 23.50 on Saturday, November 6 2004.

“Hospital staff responded very quickly and effectively to the activation of the major incident plan.”