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Croydon tram crash: Driver arrested after derailment kills seven and injures dozens | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
The driver of a tram which derailed in Croydon, south London, has been arrested, British Transport Police have said. | The driver of a tram which derailed in Croydon, south London, has been arrested, British Transport Police have said. |
At least seven people were killed and more than 50 injured in the crash that happened just after 6.10am. | |
Passengers remained trapped in the wreckage for hours after the carriage overturned in heavy rain | |
Investigators said the commuter vehicle was travelling at a “significantly higher speed than is permitted”, and are probing whether the driver may have fallen asleep. | |
Scenes on board have been described as “total carnage” and “like something out of a film” as the two-carriage tram tipped onto its side next to an underpass near the Sandilands stop on its way to Wimbledon. | |
Police said the 42-year-old driver, from Beckenham, is being held on suspicion of manslaughter and is currently in police custody. | |
Initial findings of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) show that the tram came off the tracks as it was negotiating a “sharp, left-hand curve” with a speed limit of 12mph. | |
One passenger, who was among more than 50 injured, recalled being trapped under a woman, adding: “I don't think she made it”. | |
Martin Bamford, 30, from Croydon, told the Press Association that the driver told him he thought he had “blacked out”. | |
London mayor Sadiq Khan, who visited the scene earlier, warned the death toll “may well increase”. | |
"My thoughts and prayers are with all those who have lost loved ones in the tragic incident this morning in Croydon," he wrote on Twitter. | |
One witness who lives near the scene of the incident told reporters she had heard a loud crash as the tram derailed. |