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Two people have been seriously injured after a train with around 150 people on board derailed near Lewes in East Sussex.
00:00 | Simon Marks and Helen Hoddinott bring you the latest details
03:54 | Local MP James MacCleary draws a link between the derailment, climate change and the heat wave
The British Transport Police is responding alongside paramedics and the fire service.
Three carriages in the eight carriage train have reportedly tipped onto their sides.
South East Coast Ambulance have confirmed that "two people sustained serious injuries".
A spokesperson said: "Patients have been assessed and treated at the scene, with some transported to local hospitals for further treatment and care.
"A number of passengers who did not require hospital treatment have been taken to a local community centre, where they are being supported by partner agencies."
A major incident was declared by British Transport Police, but all passengers have now been evacuated.
#simonmarks #train #sussexnews #derailment #uknews #climatechange #heatwave #emergency #lbc
LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK.
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0:00
The train derailment that took place this afternoon in East Sussex, just outside Lewis
0:06
Three carriages of an eight-carriage Victoria to Eastbourne service overturned. Pictures provided to LBC from the scene show that the rail line appears to have significantly buckled
0:18
although what caused that is not known at this point. A senior government source tells us there have been no fatalities
0:25
although the images do show passengers picking themselves up from a train that one witness described as being upside down
0:34
LBC's reporter Helen Hoddenott is with me here in the studio now
0:38
with the very latest. And, Helen, you do have some fresh information. Well, that's right, Simon
0:42
We have just heard from the South East Coast Ambulance who have confirmed that two people sustained serious injuries
0:51
also saying that there were about 150 people on board the train when it derailed this afternoon
0:59
This incident took place at around 3.54. This Southern Rail passenger train derailing close to Lewis Station
1:08
It was travelling north of the station at the time. Several of the rear carriages are understood to have come off the tracks and ended up lying on their sides
1:18
One of the carriages looked like it had slid partway down the grassy embankment
1:24
And we've seen photos showing the inside of the derailed carriages with passengers pressed up against the windows
1:33
We're told that there were quite a few older passengers on this train as well
1:37
Other photos show people out of their seats standing upright in the carriage at the new orientation that it was at or climbing sideways out of the carriage into the grassy embankment to the side
1:52
Images too from outside showing people standing on top of the overturned carriages or sitting down in the gravel next to the track And one dad who was on the train with his six daughter has told press how their train jumped vertically upwards The emergency brakes went on he said
2:11
and everything got thrown forward saying it skidded for quite a while before it stopped
2:16
He said we turned around and saw the whole back of the train was open and smoke and dust
2:21
were pouring into the carriage and they saw that the fifth carriage had gone on its side. He says
2:27
a number of air ambulances flew in he saw people with head injuries blood and cuts saying that
2:33
passengers remained on board for about half an hour after the derailment adding of course that
2:39
with the weather today it was incredibly hot on that train because the air conditioning has stopped
2:45
working and no windows or doors were open now of course there's been a huge emergency services
2:51
response. There's been British transport, police, paramedics and firefighters attending the scene
2:57
As we've heard from the government, the government source has told LBC that there are no fatalities
3:04
And on that cause, we still don't have an official reason for the derailment. The photos that we have
3:11
seen show what appears to be a buckled section of the track. And of course, we do know that in
3:16
extreme heat, train tracks can buckle. But while there is an official investigation going on
3:23
we don't quite have the cause at the moment. But for now, transport's seriously disrupted
3:27
and the public are being told to avoid the area. Helen Hoddenott, LBC's reporter
3:32
thanks very much for that. And in terms of traffic being disrupted, there are certainly
3:38
no train services running between Brighton and Lewis at the moment, between Haywood's Heath and
3:42
Lewis and between Seaford or Eastbourne and Lewis and travellers are being advised to obviously
3:49
delay their journey until later today or use an alternative route to travel. Also joining me now
3:56
is James McCleary the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewis Mr McCleary thank you very much indeed for joining us on what I sure has been a somewhat alarming day Can you confirm we heard reports that at least two people have been injured and taken to hospital for treatment
4:19
There were no fatalities. Is there any indication yet, preliminary indication, of what may have caused this derailment
4:27
Good evening. Good evening to you. in terms of the the injuries that's a very latest update is the two serious injuries i've only just
4:37
heard about that very very recently and it's very concerning news um it's obviously great to hear
4:41
that there are no fatalities because obviously i think when we saw the images of the incident it
4:46
did look very serious and it is very serious and so i think the first thought for most people was
4:50
that maybe people might have uh died in the incident but unfortunately they haven't so i hope
4:54
those two people who are being treated um are okay in terms of causes look we're gonna have to wait
4:59
for the rail incident investigation people to get down there and find out what happened
5:05
There's obviously the images of buckled tracks. We know that the extreme heat, both here and indeed elsewhere in Europe
5:11
has been causing issues for rail services. And we've had speed restrictions in the area for that reason
5:16
So we'll have to see what the investigation shows us. I mean, we don't know, as you were saying, what the cause of this was
5:22
But the one thing we do know is that the emergency services had to respond to this incident
5:27
in the middle of an oppressive heatwave, and that in and of itself sends us a message
5:33
And of course, the passengers had to endure the entire incident and then the rescue and recovery of them
5:41
in the middle of an oppressive heatwave. Absolutely. And, look, you don't have to go far down our way
5:47
You can see the South Downs are brown and dry and look like a tinderbox
5:52
It's had a huge impact, this latest heatwave, as are the impacts more widely of climate change, which we seem to woefully underprepared
6:01
for The French authorities recently announced they were going to start replacing tracks to withstand heat up to 50 degrees We done little in this country to start to build our climate resilience obviously for those passengers concerned you know having the shock of what
6:15
happened in terms of derailment and then dealing with, as you say, really challenging conditions
6:20
just compounded the issues. And as for the emergency services, they just have our gratitude
6:25
There's an amazing response. I think your previous report mentioned the Air Ambulance
6:29
who of course a charity, responded immediately to help people who've been affected. And I know that
6:33
Everybody in Lewis is enormously grateful for all of their hard work today. And when you and your colleagues return to the House of Commons in September
6:42
do you think that the events, not only of today, but of the last several weeks
6:46
were into the fifth heatwave of the year? This is the hottest day of the year, the fifth hottest on record
6:53
Are they going to result in at least you and your fellow Liberal Democrats
6:59
And I wonder what you think about cross-party views on this. Is it going to result in fresh impetus for a national plan on climate change to be devised and implemented
7:13
It's clearly urgent. I mean, as Liberal Democrats, we've been talking about this for a long time as an environmentalist party
7:19
We've pressed so hard to get faster movement on what we knew was coming down the line my whole lifetime
7:24
We've been warned that this was going to happen, that climate change was going to have huge consequences for all our lives
7:31
And you can see it's putting people's lives at risk. There are wildfires right now burning in this country, threatening people's homes
7:37
We've seen what's happened in the rest of Europe in that regard, too. And now we're seeing potential impacts on other areas, including transport
7:44
So, yes, it gives real impetus. I mean, obviously, we have a by-election taking place today where the individual who caused it likes to deny a lot of these things or anything to do with climate change
7:54
And I think we do need to work cross-party with the government and with other parties who do acknowledge this is real
8:00
and get an action plan in place because it's urgent and it's urgent for us now and it's even more urgent for my kids
8:06
James McCleary, thanks very much for being with us at the end of what I know has been a challenging day
8:10
The Liberal Democrat MP for Lewis
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