A fatal train crash yesterday in London, the third in Britain in 11 years, has reawakened controversy about the country's ageing rail network and its declining safety standards since the privatization of British Rail.
Two packed commuter trains collided near London's Paddington Station during the height of the morning rush hour yesterday, killing at least eight people and injuring about 160.
Several cars derailed and at least one burst into flames in the residential Ladbroke Grove area of west London.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"It is a tangled and difficult scene," Deputy Police Commissioner Andy Trotter said.
Authorities said 128 people had been taken to hospitals, 21 of them with severe injuries.
Nearly six hours after the 8:11am crash, the last three surviving trapped passengers were freed, police said.
"We believe there are a number of bodies still trapped in the wreckage, but it is impossible to gauge the number of those on board," Tony Thompson of the British Transport Police said.
"The scene is one of twisted metal and burned-out carriages, which makes the search a long and careful process," he said. "But we are satisfied there are no live casualties left inside."
The collision, involving the two mainline trains, occurred about three kilometers west of Paddington station, less than a kilometer north of Notting Hill.
A spokesman for First Great Western Trains said the accident involved its high-speed service from Cheltenham, in western England, and a Thames Trains service outbound to Bedwyn, Wiltshire, west of London.
The accident happened on the same stretch of line as the Southall rail crash in September 1997 in which seven people died and 150 were injured. Great Western was fined ?1.5 million (US$2.47 mill-ion) after an investigation of the Southall crash.
"In our opinion, if you look at what happened today, it appears that there are troubling similarities with Southall," Des Collins, a lawyer representing the families of train disaster victims, said.
"There is clearly a problem with the privatized network, which must be looked into urgently," he added.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced a public inquiry into yesterday's crash after visiting the scene.
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