Survivors tell of rail crash terror
Passengers who escaped unhurt from last night's rail crash in Berkshire, England spoke of their terror as they realised the train was crashing.
Six people were killed in the crash, which happened after a high-speed train hit a car on a level crossing and derailed. It is understood that the person in the car was killed in the crash.
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.
Schoolboy Alex Mayor was with three friends accompanied by a priest returning to boarding school from watching a football match when the accident happened. The 15-year-old, who lives in Switzerland, said he was near the front of the train when it smashed into a car at the level crossing.
He said: “We felt a big jolt and it just started shaking and swerve and then went down on its side and the lights went off. The carriage behind us crumpled and came off the track. I think there were two people that died on the train in our carriage.”
Passengers smashed glass at the back of the carriage to get out after they smelled diesel, he said.
David White, 48, from Cornwall, was in a carriage returning from London with his wife, his brother and his wife, his stepson and his girlfriend.
He described the horror of the carriage turning over, sending tables flying.
He said: “I am shocked. You could feel it hit the car, breaking hard. We knew something was happening and the carriages ploughed into each other.”
The passengers were plunged into complete darkness with people “screaming and shouting on the floor” as tables fell on top of them.
The carriage had come off its wheels and passengers crawled through a gap where two carriages met to get out.
The driver was still alive but stuck inside the train, along with other passengers, he said.
“There was nothing left of the car. Two sides of it were all over the place.”
Mr White was waiting at a local hotel for news of his sister-in-law who was being treated for a shouler injury in hospital.
Richard Micklewright, a passenger on the train, told the ITV News Channel: “I was in the rear of the train. I was in Coach A. The train was running back to front. There was a lot of shuddering…then we suddenly realised something was going on. I braced myself between the aisles…then it (the train) turned on its side at the last moment.”
After getting out of the carriage, he saw other train carriages which looked “worse for wear”.
Mr Micklewright went on: “Initially, the lights had gone out and people were searching for the emergency light…there was a little bit of panic.
“Eventually, somebody broke a window. There were hammers for emergencies like this. We then all moved down and went through the rear of the carriage.
“It was difficult to move because the carriage was at a 45 degree angle.”
Mr Micklewright said initially he felt a juddering which became more severe as the train derailed.
“The carriage in front remained upright but I could see that the one after that was at right angles to the track. It looked to me like there were a lot of carriages strewn all over the place.
“From my carriage I heard no one say they had been injured. The train was pretty full.”
He said some people were saying that one carriage rolled over several times.
“There was a little bit of panic with some people saying: ‘Oh no, not us. Not us.’ I was just grateful that the thing had come to a stop and we were in one piece. The emergency services were here pretty quickly considering the distance they had to come – within 10 to 15 minutes. You couldn’t fault them at all. It was brilliant.”
Mr Micklewright said some carriages had gone completely off the rail line.
“Initially, I tried to find out where I was. Major injuries have gone to the hospital and everyone else is just waiting around. We have got a pub here and we can get a drink.”
Mr Micklewright added: “On the side of track, I saw what looked like a bundle of metal. I assumed it was a car but it was not recognisable as a car. This is the sort of thing you have nightmares about.”
Passenger Duncan Freeman, who was returning home from London, also told Sky: “I felt a huge jolt and then a second one and the lights went out. I felt I was in serious danger of losing my life.
“I picked up my bag and a ticket inspector told us not to leave the carriage but I could smell diesel so I thought it would be best to get out of the carriage.” He said he was shocked but unhurt.
He said the passengers who managed to make their way out of the wrecked carriages went first to a pub where they were examined and then he and other passengers were taken to a hotel.
Sam Jennings was waiting in the car park of the Spring Inn pub for her parents and 11-year-old daughter who had been on the train but were uninjured.
Ms Jennings, who had come up from Devizes, Wiltshire, said the three had been travelling back from a caravanning show at Earl’s Court in London. She said that daughter Shannon was “a bit shaken up” and described how her father Steve Hope related the incident to her.
“He just said the lights were off and all the baggage had come falling down. He said he didn’t realise what had happened until he came off the train and it was a mess.”
