00:00This afternoon at around 3.45pm we received a report of a train derailment near Lewis station
00:06in Sussex. A major incident was declared after three carriages of a southern service
00:11travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne derailed. A number of passengers were initially
00:17trapped but thankfully were soon safely evacuated from the train. At this stage we know that two
00:24people have sustained serious injuries and a further 18 have suffered less serious injuries.
00:30Those injured were assessed and treated at the scene with some taken to local hospitals
00:35for further treatment. A significant emergency response has taken
00:40place throughout the evening involving officers from the British Transport Police, alongside
00:45colleagues from Sussex Police, the Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and Network Rail.
00:52This incident was complex and challenging to deal with and required a carefully coordinated
00:57multi-agency response. The Ambulance Service sent multiple ambulance resources to the scene,
01:03including our Hazardous Area Response Team, Critical Care Paramedics and Advanced Paramedic Practitioners.
01:10In collaboration with other emergency services, everyone on board the train has been assessed
01:15and those who needed medical treatment promptly received the care that they required. We have
01:21conveyed 18 people to several hospitals in the region. There are a range of injuries, two of
01:27which were categorised as severe and were conveyed to a major trauma centre. The remaining are a mix of
01:36injuries of varying severity. The railway between Lewis and Haywards Heath is closed and is likely to
01:42remain closed whilst the emergency response continues and specialist teams carry out the complex task of
01:47assessing the damage to the train and the infrastructure. I understand that people will have lots of
01:53questions about what has happened today. I would like to reassure everyone that we are working closely
01:58with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch who are on site to establish exactly what has happened.
02:03At the moment it would be inappropriate to comment as to the cause of this incident, but more information
02:08will be provided as soon as we can.
Comments