'Thought it was terrorist explosion': London train crash passengers 'had broken legs, could not speak'; driver dead

Survivors recalled scenes of panic and devastation after two passenger trains collided near Bedford, north of London on Friday, killing a train driver and injuring over 80 people.Describing the moments after the crash, passenger Dr Pete Knapp told Press Association: “There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke. People were crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused.”The collision occurred at around 5.15pm local time between Bedford and Luton as both trains were travelling south towards London St Pancras station. Emergency services, including air ambulances and specialist rescue teams, rushed to the scene after several carriages derailed.According to emergency officials, 89 people were injured in the collision. Eleven suffered very serious injuries, 22 sustained serious injuries and 56 others were treated for minor injuries.Recalling the impact, Knapp said there had been no warning before the collision.“There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke. People were crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused,” he said.“I got up and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs, 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.”He added that his first thought was to escape in case the incident had been caused by an explosion.“My first thought was I needed to get out of the train just in case it was a terrorist explosion, I thought it was safer to get off the train,” he said.Another passenger, Shola Mene, told the BBC that there was ‘a big bang’ and ‘then people flew from the seats.’ “Someone just flew across and hit my husband in the face. There was a lot of blood. A lot of people had facial injuries,” Mene said. In another interview, Knapp compared the scene to a bomb blast.“When I got up, I saw all of the chairs everywhere, I felt like I had been in a bomb explosion. When I got up, I saw people’s bloodied faces, people’s legs looked broken. There was smoke everywhere,” he told the BBC.“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.Social media footage from the scene showed injured passengers inside damaged carriages, while others with bandages were seen sitting beside the railway tracks after being evacuated.Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), confirmed that the person killed was a train driver.“We are devastated to learn that a train driver and former RMT rep has tragically died as a result of today’s crash between Luton and Bedford. The thoughts of RMT are with their family, friends, colleagues and the Aslef trade union at this awful time,” he said.Dave Calfe, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, also paid tribute to the victim.“Our thoughts tonight are with the family and friends of the driver who died in the crash near Bedford today and with the passengers who were injured in the accident,” he said.Rail operator East Midlands Railway said the collision involved its 4.40pm service from Corby to London St Pancras and its 3.50pm service from Nottingham to the same destination.The company suspended all train services to and from London St Pancras for the remainder of the day as emergency services continued their response and investigators began examining the cause of the collision.