The incident occurred at around 5.15pm on Friday, June 19, when two East Midlands Railway services collided just south of the Elstow interchange between the A421 and the A6
Passengers on trains involved in a terrifying collision near Bedford have recounted the moment of impact, with one sharing footage from the aftermath.
The incident took place around 5.15pm on Friday, June 19, when two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services collided just south of the Elstow interchange between the A421 and the A6. The services involved were the 4.40pm from Corby to London St Pancras and the 3.50pm Nottingham to London St Pancras.
The driver of one of the trains has tragically been confirmed dead. Eleven people sustained “very serious” injuries, 22 were seriously injured and an additional 56 people suffered minor injuries.
Aerial footage from the scene shows the two damaged EMR trains, with most carriages remaining on the tracks but at least one derailed.
Passenger Dr Peter Knapp told the BBC he was travelling in the “front carriage of the train that collided into another one”.
“When I got up, I saw all of the chairs everywhere. It felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.”
“When I got up, I saw people’s bloodied faces and people’s legs looked broken and there was smoke everywhere”, he said.
Dr Knapp mentioned that the police were taking passengers’ details while some were transported to hospital.
He described how some individuals were “spitting out blood”.
Passengers can be heard crying out in footage captured by Dr Knapp following the incident.
Another passenger on one of the trains involved, Shola Mene, reported hearing a “big bang”.
“People flew from their seats, the seats were pulling, and then someone just flew across and hit my husband in the face.”
“There was a lot of blood. A lot of people had facial injuries,” she said.
Teresa Itabor, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, was en route to London for her birthday celebrations.
“We left Bedford station and there was a massive bang… I didn’t know what was going on. My head hit the seat in front of me,” she recounted.
“I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere.”