The person who died in the train collision north of London on Friday was the driver of one of the two trains, an accident which also left eleven seriously injured, British Transport Police said on Saturday.
The collision took place late in the afternoon south of Bedford, a trading town located about 90 kilometers north of the British capital, according to the East Midlands Railway (EMR).
The accident involved two EMR trains, one of which struck the rear of the other.
“Sadly, one person was pronounced dead at the scene. This is the driver of one of the trains involved,” British Transport Police said in a statement.
In total, 33 people were taken to hospital, including 11 in serious condition, police added. And 56 other people were treated for injuries.
Transport Minister Heidi Alexander said it was "too early" to know the causes of the accident.
“We will ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out in order to determine the circumstances of this collision and to learn the necessary lessons so that such an incident never happens again,” she added.
“We were at a stop when, suddenly, we were violently hit from behind,” a passenger, Paul Cavin, testified to the BBC.
His train was heading to St Pancras station in London.
“There were injured people in my carriage,” he said, describing in particular people coming out of the trains with “broken noses”.
Another passenger, Brett Byatt, expressed his anger to the BBC. "The problem is that we have one of the oldest rail networks and signaling failures are common," he said.
In September 2023, several people were injured after two trains collided at Aviemore station, in the Scottish Highlands.
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