BEDFORD — Two trains collided near Bedford on a Friday night, resulting in the death of one train driver and injuries to 89 individuals. An East Midlands Railway service was involved in a collision with a slower-moving train approximately five minutes into its journey.

The collision occurred just south of the Elstow interchange, located between the A421 and the A6. Thirty-three people required urgent hospital treatment following the incident. Passengers administered first aid to injured individuals until emergency services arrived at the scene about 10 minutes after the crash.

Brett Byatt, a teacher from Bedford, was a passenger on the train. He estimated that 90 percent of the passengers in his carriage sustained injuries. Byatt described various injuries among his fellow travelers. He said, "The people in first class ended up with stomach and rib injuries, because they went into the tables they have in first class."

Byatt further detailed the extent of the casualties in his carriage. Byatt said, "I'd probably say from three to four of us were uninjured in a full carriage; everyone else had either a serious wound that was bleeding profusely, or a situation where they couldn't stand, or they couldn't move their neck, and I saw a woman snap her leg."

A team of Rail Accident Investigation Branch inspectors was dispatched to the crash site to gather evidence. The deceased train driver was a former representative for the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. Eddie Dempsey, the union's General Secretary, said, "We are devastated to learn that a train driver and former RMT rep has tragically died as a result of Friday's crash between Luton and Bedford."