Eighteen people were injured, including two who sustained serious injuries, after a passenger train derailed in southern England on Thursday.
The South East Coast Ambulance Service said 16 other passengers suffered less serious injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.
The incident occurred near Lewes in East Sussex, about 45 miles south of London, after the last three carriages of a Southern Rail service travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne came off the tracks. About 150 passengers were on board.
Emergency services mounted a major response, with police, firefighters and ambulance crews deployed to the scene.
Three air ambulances were also reported to have arrived as rescue operations continued.
British Transport Police Assistant Chief Constable Ian Drummond-Smith said, “We’ve declared a major incident and a significant emergency service response is ongoing at the scene.”
He later confirmed that “all passengers on the train have now been safely evacuated.”
Images from the scene showed several carriages lying on their sides, with emergency responders working around the wreckage.
Passengers who did not require hospital treatment were taken to a nearby community centre for support.
One passenger, 56-year-old Yana Ludwig from the United States, described the incident as a frightening experience.
“There was a banging. Everything just went topsy turvy,” said Ludwig, who was travelling from London to Lewes, according to PA Media.
“It seemed like a really long time but it probably was 10 seconds of that before the carriage actually fell on the side.”
Ludwig said she was left “pretty banged up” and recalled being propped up over another passenger while travellers checked on one another before emergency crews arrived.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it had deployed 10 fire engines, a Command Support Unit, technical rescue teams, officers and other personnel.
“We have ten fire engines, a Command Support Unit, technical rescue units, officers and other resources at the scene,” the fire service said. “We have been helping reach passengers and assisting other emergency services.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” about the derailment and praised emergency workers assisting those affected.
“We are working quickly with the rail industry and local partners to assist passengers,” she added.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has sent inspectors to the site to establish what led to the crash.
Network Rail’s route director for Sussex, Lucy McAuliffe, said the railway between Haywards Heath and Lewes was expected to remain closed while specialist teams assessed the damage.
“I understand that people will have lots of questions about what has happened today,” she said.
“I would like to reassure everyone that we are working closely with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, who are on site to establish exactly what has happened.
“At the moment, it would be inappropriate to comment as to the cause of this incident but more information would be provided as soon as we can.”
The derailment occurred during a heatwave across the UK, with temperatures in parts of southern England reaching 35 degrees Celsius.
Several rail services had already been cancelled or operated at reduced speeds because of the extreme heat.
Network Rail has previously warned that high temperatures can cause railway tracks to expand and buckle.
“When steel gets hot it expands… If there is no room for the rail to expand, the rail can buckle and we need to close the line to fix it before trains can run again,” Network Rail explains in a statement on their website.
The TSSA transport union also expressed concern over the incident.
“With a large number of passengers involved, their safety and wellbeing must come first. We thank all emergency services and rail staff responding at the scene and await to hear more,” it said in a statement.
Southern Rail advised passengers against travelling, saying all lines through Lewes railway station had been closed to allow emergency crews, rail engineers and specialist teams to assess the scene and determine whether the railway was safe.
The incident is the second serious train crash in the UK in two months.
In June, two passenger trains collided near Bedford in south-central England, leaving one person dead and dozens injured.
