Train accident news
19/06/2007
Level crossing crash leaves more than 10 dead
On 5th June a tragic Australian train crash occurred in the Southern state of Victoria. At least 10 people were left dead and many more were seriously injured. It is thought that numerous train accident claims for compensation from victims and their families are imminent.
The train crash happened when a semi-trailer truck smashed into a passenger train at a level crossing just north of Kerang. Unfortunately, this is the most recent in a long line of level crossing train accidents that have occurred all over the world since trains first took to the tracks.
More than 24 people suffered serious personal injuries as a result and, with passengers still unaccounted for as the wreckage continued to be searched, it is feared that there may be more fatalities yet to be discovered.
An eye witness told Reuters how the truck smashed straight into the second carriage, cutting the train clean in half and leaving it ripped open down one side.
She went on to say, "The truck just didn't stop. He may have had the sun in his eyes. He tried to divert and he went off into the dirt and hit the carriage behind me.
"If the third carriage had not come off I think the whole train would have derailed.
"The back carriage is about 150 metres (450 feet) down the track and the carriage behind mine is just half gone. There is a big gapping hole in the sidethe carriage is mangled, you wonder how anybody got out."
Most of the people who suffered personal injuries, such as whiplash, received medical treatment at the scene of the crash from the emergency services. However, among those injured includes passengers who lost limbs and a 15-year-old girl who was airlifted to hospital in Melbourne for immediate care.
According to Robert Jarman, chief of Kerang Hospital, the local hospital also received patients from the train accident, "We have air ambulances flying in and out."
As yet, the final death toll and number of personal injuries sustained has not been confirmed. When investigations into the cause of the train crash have been confirmed and the chaos has subsided it is anticipated that hundreds of train accident claims for personal injury compensation will be sought, many of which will be under no win, no fee agreements.
