Wrecked carriage lifted from track

Emergency crews need to move wreckage to search for bodies

Emergency workers at the site of the Selby train crash have begun using a giant crane to lift wrecked carriages from the track.

Crash workers have to move the wreckage to find more of the personal items of the passengers which will help them identify the dead.

Police have named two of the people killed in the accident as Christopher Hugh Terry, 30, from York, and Robert Shakespeare, 43, from Beverley, East Yorkshire.

We will almost inevitably find more body parts in the wreckage

Superintendent Tony Thompson

Police said bodies were recovered from 13 parts of the train on Thursday, but officers say it is possible more could be found in carriages they have not yet been able to enter.

Relatives of people killed and feared dead are expected to visit the scene of the disaster at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire.

Seventy people were also injured when a Land Rover careered into the path of a passenger train which was then hit by a freight train.

A huge crane was assembled in the last 24 hours to start lifting the carriages off the track and into an adjoining field.

Click here to see a map of the accident.

Rescue teams will be able to examine previously inaccessible sites and continue a fingertip search of the area for possessions which will help with identification.

Superintendent Tony Thompson, of British Transport Police, said relatives of the victims might find it useful to visit the site to help them come to terms with the tragedy.

Specialist counsellors are being brought in to help them cope with what has happened.

Bleak return

A survivor from train crash has already returned to the scene of the accident.

The middle-aged man, who has not been named, was accompanied by two policewomen as he spent time looking at the wreckage of the two trains and floral tributes left at the scene.

The Archbishop of York had intended to travel on the express train

Superintendent Thompson added: "We do not know what we will find underneath but history suggests from previous accidents we might find something there," he said.

A second crane will be used to recover the freight train and its carriages on the other side of the tracks.

Police are hoping to complete the recovery operation by Sunday and hand over the site to Railtrack on Monday.

The Archbishop of York, who visited the scene on Friday, said he had intended to travel on the express train but cancelled at the last minute.

Memorial services

The Right Reverend David Hope said one member of the clergy is believed to have been on the train and the wife of another clergyman was quite seriously injured.

"Only by coming down here and seeing what has happened can you fully appreciate the enormity of Wednesday's events," he said.

"This tragedy has touched so many peoples' lives, not least those from the clergy."

Grief stricken: Car driver Gary Hart

The Bishop of Doncaster, the Right Reverend Cyril Ashton, said a memorial service for the victims of the crash would be held on Sunday afternoon at Hensall Parish Church, a mile from the crash scene.

A service of commemoration will be held at York Minster once funerals have taken place.

Police investigating the crash are considering the possibility that the Land Rover driver, Gary Hart, may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

On Friday, 33 of the 70 people injured in the crash remained in hospital, with two in a critical condition.

An emergency number 0207 8347777 has been set up for members of the public concerned about friends and relatives.

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