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Clapham Junction rail crash 1988: Events remember the dead | Clapham Junction rail crash 1988: Events remember the dead |
(about 7 hours later) | |
Wreaths will be laid and a minute's silence held to remember the 35 people killed in a train crash in south London 30 years ago. | Wreaths will be laid and a minute's silence held to remember the 35 people killed in a train crash in south London 30 years ago. |
At 08:13 on 12 December 1988 faulty wiring and signalling caused three trains to collide in Clapham. | At 08:13 on 12 December 1988 faulty wiring and signalling caused three trains to collide in Clapham. |
Survivors and families will pay their respects to the dead and almost 500 injured people at a church service. | Survivors and families will pay their respects to the dead and almost 500 injured people at a church service. |
Bosses from the emergency services and rail industry representatives will also attend memorial events. | Bosses from the emergency services and rail industry representatives will also attend memorial events. |
A 250-page report on the findings of the accident inquiry, chaired by Anthony Hidden QC, found faulty wiring had caused an incorrect signal to be displayed to a train driver, who was driving into a blind bend and had no chance of stopping. | A 250-page report on the findings of the accident inquiry, chaired by Anthony Hidden QC, found faulty wiring had caused an incorrect signal to be displayed to a train driver, who was driving into a blind bend and had no chance of stopping. |
His train, which had come from Poole, ploughed head-on into the back of a stationary train, from Basingstoke. | His train, which had come from Poole, ploughed head-on into the back of a stationary train, from Basingstoke. |
The Poole train then veered and hit an empty oncoming train. | The Poole train then veered and hit an empty oncoming train. |
About 70 people suffered horrific injuries as the front section of the moving train was ripped open and completely destroyed. | About 70 people suffered horrific injuries as the front section of the moving train was ripped open and completely destroyed. |
It took hours for the hundreds of emergency service workers to cut people out of the wreckage. | It took hours for the hundreds of emergency service workers to cut people out of the wreckage. |
John Bowis, who was the MP for Battersea at the time, said he drove to the "awful scene of carnage" as soon as he heard the news. | John Bowis, who was the MP for Battersea at the time, said he drove to the "awful scene of carnage" as soon as he heard the news. |
"It was something you never forget," he said. | "It was something you never forget," he said. |
Mr Bowis said the boys from nearby Emanuel School were "impressive" in the way they came to help the injured, but added: "I'm very conscious that some very young eyes and minds were confronted with awful things." | Mr Bowis said the boys from nearby Emanuel School were "impressive" in the way they came to help the injured, but added: "I'm very conscious that some very young eyes and minds were confronted with awful things." |
Christmas cards | |
London Fire Brigade's commissioner, Dany Cotton, had only recently finished training as a firefighter when she was called to attend the crash. | |
"There were Christmas cards strewn everywhere as people must have been writing their cards on the train," she said. | |
"I still remember it like it was yesterday." | |
At 11:00 on Wednesday, Ms Cotton will join survivors and families as well as the London mayor Sadiq Khan, the Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, and rail industry representatives to lay wreaths and hold a minute's silence at a memorial to victims in Spencer Park, Battersea, before a service at St Mark's church. | |
The train drivers' union Aslef will hold a separate wreath-laying event and two-minute silence at the Spencer Park memorial at 08:13, to mark the exact moment the crash happened. | The train drivers' union Aslef will hold a separate wreath-laying event and two-minute silence at the Spencer Park memorial at 08:13, to mark the exact moment the crash happened. |
Although many of the Hidden report's 93 recommendations were acted on, a rail accident report last month found lessons learned in the disaster were being "forgotten". | Although many of the Hidden report's 93 recommendations were acted on, a rail accident report last month found lessons learned in the disaster were being "forgotten". |