THREE DEAD IN TRAIN CRASH HORROR
THREE people died after a train was derailed by a landslide following a “biblical” deluge.
The horrific incident happened yesterday morning in northern Scotland leading to a massive rescue operation.
Among the dead is a passenger and the driver and conductor of the Scotrail train which plunged down an embankment before bursting into flames.
The smoke was visible for miles over the crash scene.
The tragedy occurred around 9.40am, after almost three inches of rain had fallen in Aberdeenshire in less than two hours.
During the night much of the east of the country had been battered by storms and endured more than 17,000 lightning strikes in 12 hours.
ScotRail said: “We’ve sadly been advised by the
British Transport Police that, in addition to the driver and a passenger, one of the fatalities in the Stonehaven derailment was our conductor. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends, and colleagues of those who lost loved ones.”
British Transport Police said six people were taken to hospital for injuries, which are not thought to be serious.
The train driver was named locally last night as Brett McCullough. A grief-stricken colleague said: “He has a young family and a wife.
“He’s been in the railways for about six years and is a lovely man.”
At the family home, at Drumlithie, on the outskirts of Stonehaven, his wife Stephanie was too upset to comment. But she confirmed Brett had died in the derailment.
With the lockdown conditions in place in Aberdeen, combined with many people still working from home, the train was luckily almost empty – with just six passengers and three crew.
A typical Scotrail four carriage train has 273 seats and would carry six crew members.
Last night, rail experts claimed that the 06.38 Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street train had already been diverted to avoid one landslip when it was hit by a second.The accident occurred outside the former station at Carmont near Stonehaven.
Witnesses said the front locomotive and three of the carriages left the track.
More than 30 emergency vehicles rushed to the scene well as an air ambulance.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said between 5am and 7am – two-and-a-half inches of rain (65.8mm) was recorded at the Dunnotter weather station.
Locals said the rain had been unrelenting for several hours with one saying: “It was absolutely incredible. The only way I could describe it was ‘Biblical’.”
ScotRail tweeted early yesterday that services across Scotland would be disrupted due to “extremely heavy rain flooding”.
Video posted to social media by Network Rail Scotland showed a landslip close to the scene of the crash. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “It is a very difficult location for emergency services to access. I appreciate that there will be many families who will be anxious if they believe they had relatives who were on that train.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the derailment of a train as a “very serious incident”.
He tweeted: “My thoughts are with all of those affected. My thanks to the emergency services.”
The chief executive of Network Rail, Andrew Haines, announced that he was cutting short his family holiday in Italy and returning home in light of the tragedy and would be visiting the crash scene.
Andrew Bowie, Tory MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, whose constituency includes the site, said he had been in Stonehaven surveying the flood damage yesterday. He added: ‘The situation was really bad this morning. The River Carron, the main river which flows through it, had burst its banks and the heavy rain had caused flooding in the centre of Stonehaven.
“Obviously, none of us expected there to be such a serious incident as a rail derailment but it just goes to show how damaging the bad
weather can be. I don’t think speculation is helpful at this stage.
“We obviously don’t know why the derailment took place, but obviously we have suffered terrible weather here.”
Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps said: “The UK Government will provide every support. My thoughts are with those involved and their families.”
Mick Lynch of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, said: “Our priority at this time is to support our members, their colleagues and their families and to do all that we can to assist the rescue operation which RMT members are currently involved in.
“The facts behind this incident will need to be established but at this stage our thoughts are with all those impacted.”
The Queen sent her condolences following the rail crash saying that the entire Royal Family “join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those who have died and those who have been injured”.