Govia Thameslink King's Cross rail crash: Five hurt

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TrainImage source, Matthew Blakemore
Image caption,

The Govia Thameslink service from Cambridge hit the buffers when it reached its destination at King's Cross

Five people were hurt when a train hit the buffers as it came into London's King's Cross.

The accident on platform 11 involved the 10:55 BST Govia Thameslink service from Cambridge.

Passenger Matthew Blakemore was travelling in the front carriage and said there was a "huge bang" and "everyone was thrown around".

Ambulance crews treated five people for minor injuries and two people were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Network Rail said in a statement the train was involved in a "low-speed collision with the buffer stops" at about 12:18.

'Big bang'

Mr Blakemore, 27, was travelling from Hatfield to London for a business meeting and said: "Everyone was standing up preparing to get off.

"It all seemed fine, the train was slowing down as it came into the station but it didn't stop.

"At the time we heard a big bang and all of us were panicking. We didn't know what it was, we thought it might be terrorism, we just didn't know.

"A few people were standing in the aisle and one girl was thrown all the way down the carriage, she hurt her shoulder quite badly.

"The doors opened after about a minute but the roof by the doors of the train had come down in the impact. I was fine, just a bit shocked."

A spokesman for Govia Thameslink said: "We worked with paramedics to help those who were injured and apologise to those affected by the incident. We will cooperate fully with any investigation."

Two other Great Northern rail services have been cancelled as a result of the crash and two services will run with fewer carriages than usual, he said.

Platform 11 has been closed while investigations are carried out. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been informed.

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