UK Train Wreck Toll Could Rise
British police said on Thursday they could not rule out finding more bodies in the wreckage of Wednesday's express train crash that killed at least 13 people and injured 75.
They said the final death toll would not be known until later on Thursday when heavy lifting cranes move carriages crushed in the collision near the village of Great Heck, about 160 miles north of London.
"Until the heavy vehicle equipment moves some of the carriages we can't be sure there are not more bodies. We can't rule that out," Inspector Philip Trendal of British Transport Police said.
The tangled wreck of twisted metal and carriages on their sides beside tracks in a northern England field marked the fourth fatal British rail crash in as many years — but this time the cause appeared to be a freak road accident.
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Investigations zeroed in on how a Land Rover, towing a trailer loaded with an empty, careered onto a railway track from a motorway and into the path of a passenger express train from Newcastle to London. A heavily laden coal train then collided head-on with the high-speed express.
The driver of the Land Rover was questioned by police, including homicide officers, on Wednesday. British newspapers suggested a tire blow out caused his car to go out of control.
Police declined to comment on the reports, although they confirmed the Land Rover had missed safety barriers alongside the motorway either side of the bridge.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who is also transport minister, said 13 people, including the drivers of the two trains, were killed and 75 people were injured. Five bodies have already been recovered.
Relatives of some of the victims were expected to visit the crash site where their loved ones died.
Mourners placed small bouquets of flowers on the road bridge overlooking the smashed trains.
Engineers were clearing a path for heavy lifting equipment to reach the crash site. "It's a very large job. The actual lifting will take some time," Trendal said.
Transport police spokesman Tony Thompson said it would take around ten days to clear the carnage from the track.
Emergency workers struggled to free trapped passengers for hours after the early morning accident. Transport police said they had rescued all of the survivors by lunchtime on Wednesday.
Coincidentally, the engine powering the passenger train was the same one involved in Britain's last fatal rail crash six months ago at Hatfield, near Londn, in which four people died.
The new accident shattered already low passenger confidence in the wake of Hatfield. That crash was blamed on faulty track and forced network operator Railtrack (RTK.L) to enforce speed restrictions still in operation across some parts of Britain.
The tragedy occurred early on Wednesday morning in darkness and blizzard-like weather.
The Land Rover's driver was alerting police of the danger by mobile telephone when the passenger train, travelling at 125 miles per hour, struck the vehicle.
The train then hit a set of points, deflecting it into the path of the oncoming freight train.
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