AT LEAST eight people have been injured after a land train crashed at a holiday park in Cornwall.
Two helicopters were dispatched to Tregoad Holiday Park in St Martin near Looe where eight people were injured after a land train crashed on Wednesday evening.
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Coastguard rescue teams, firefighters and ambulance services were also at the scene.
Devon and Cornwall police have confirmed that eight people were injured but that none of their injuries “are thought to be critical or life-changing at this stage”.
HM Coastguard said: “At around 7pm this evening (Wednesday 30 October), HM Coastguard was called to assist with a road incident involving multiple casualties in Looe, Cornwall. The incident remains ongoing.
“An HM Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Newquay was sent to the scene, alongside Tamar and Looe Coastguard Rescue Teams. South Western Ambulance Service, Devon and Cornwall Police and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service are also in attendance.”
A police spokesman added: “Police are currently at the scene of a multi-agency incident at a holiday park in St Martin, near Looe. We were called just before 7pm tonight [Wednesday 30 October] following an incident involving a land train.”
It comes after a terrified passenger shared the heart-stopping moment they knew they were going to hit an oncoming train seconds before impact.
One passenger died and 15 others were rushed to hospital after two trains collided on a rural single-track railway.
The driver, who ran from his cab to warn a crash was imminent, was left bleeding from the head and a male passenger suffered a fatal heart attack after the low-speed crash in Llanbrynmair, Wales.
It is understood the two trains were carrying 41 passengers and one was unable to stop due to suspected leaves on the track preventing it from braking.
‘BRUTAL’
Passenger Jonah Evans, 25, told The Sun Online: “There was a train that was stopped and the other train couldn’t stop.
“And the driver couldn’t get out of the way with a train in front.
“The driver ran in and sat on a chair and said brace yourselves – we’re about to hit a train.
“Someone lost their teeth, cracked ribs.
Wondering what the hell had happened
Jonah Evans
“Because the driver told us it was happening, we could kind of get ready.”
A passenger on the Shrewsbury-bound train, Anthony Hurford, described the crash as “brutal”.
He added: “Somehow my body bent the leg of a table and ripped it off its bolts attached to the wall.
“Suddenly I was on the floor with my laptop strewn ahead of me, wondering what the hell had happened.
“We tried to stop at the lights. At the top of the hill, there’s a signal that I guess would have been a passing place and for whatever reason the train wouldn’t stop.
“There must have been 30/40 people from the fire service.
“There was British Transport Police who had come from Birmingham, there were three helicopters, people had come from north and south Wales as far as I’m aware. I was checked by three or four different medics.”
The man who died was in his sixties, police have now revealed.
Chief Inspector Jonathan Cooze(CORR), of the British Transport Police, said the circumstances leading to his death are under investigation.
He said: “While formal identification has not taken place, he is not believed to be a member of rail staff. Our thoughts remain with his loved ones.
“His next of kin have been informed and his family are receiving support from specialist officers.
“A further 15 people were taken to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening or life-changing.
“All other passengers were safely evacuated from the train.”
