Now this one crash would have paid for boom gates and tunnels at every level crossing in Victoria and left money for upgrading the dirt roads.
Ten dead in train horror
Karen Collier and Matthew Pinkney
June 05, 2007 02:15pm
Article from: Herald-Sun
A PASSENGER on the train in which at least 10 people were killed has described hearing the "screaming, crying and moaning" of injured survivors. Seven passengers are unaccounted for.
Twenty-three passengers were injured - 12 of them seriously - when a truck ploughed into a train near Kerang.
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According to passenger Sue Fyffe, shaken survivors helped others still in the wreckage and covered in glass.
"All you could hear were people screaming and crying and moaning," Ms Fyffe told Sky news. "It was just awful, it was devastating."
Ms Fyffe said there were no boom gates, only flashing lights at the level crossing.
And she speculated the sun may have got in the truck driver's eyes before the smash. Other sources said the truck appeared to have hit the train in a 'T-bone' collision.
Ms Fyffe was among dozens of passengers sitting by the road waiting to be taken to Bendigo for a medical checkup.
Another witness said the smash appeared to have torn the train in two. ``It looks like a toy train set that was torn apart,'' the witness said.
The train was derailed and mangled in the crash at 1.40pm.
Some passengers told of escaping the full impact because they got up to get cups of coffee moments before.
Others watched in horror knowing the truck was going to hit.
Six patients were airlifted to Melbourne. They included a 15-year-old critically-injured girl flown to the Royal Children's Hospital, an 83-year-old man with spinal and leg injuries and a 40-year-old woman with abdominal injuries to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and a 45-year-old man with suspected head injuries to the Alfred Hospital.
Kerang District Hospital chief Robert Jarman said all available nursing and medical staff had been called in on standby.
The hospital has admitted six patients with serious or moderate injuries.
"We understand there are still a large number of walking wounded out at the site," Mr Jarman said.
The semi-trailer driver survived, with the dead and injured all on board the V/Line train. The truck driver was taken to Mildura Base Hospital with serious injuries. The train's driver also survived.
Three V/Line crew members on the Melbourne-bound train were among the wounded.
"We've got a number of people deceased . . . as you can imagine the scene is pretty confused," a police spokeswoman said earlier.
Premier Steve Bracks and Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky are flying to the scene.
The accident happened at a level crossing on the Murray Valley Highway about 6km northwest of Kerang, Victoria Police said.
The train left Swan Hill bound for Southern Cross Station at 1pm.
A spokeswoman for the Rural Ambulance Service said at least six ambulances from as far away as Mildura had headed for the crash scene.
Two helicopters and three planes headed to the scene to ferry the most seriously-injured to Melbourne.
Police, ambulance, the Country Fire Authority and State Emergency Service are on the scene.
Concerned relatives and friends can call 1800-800-120 for further information
