Rail crash driver arrested

The driver of the minibus was in hospital intensive care

The driver of a minibus, involved in a fatal crash with a high-speed train, has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

The crash happened on a private unmanned crossing on farmland two miles west of Evesham, Worcestershire, on 7 July.

The men who died have been named as Soran Karim, a 23-year-old Iraqi, Satish Kumar, 28, from India, and Islam Uddin Ahmed, 46, from Bangladesh.

The minibus driver was brought out of intensive care in hospital in Worcester on Wednesday.

Intensive care

Detective Inspector Hugh Jones, from British Transport Police, said: "He has been taken from Worcester Royal Infirmary to Worcester Police Station."

"We are hoping to get a version of how the incident happened, he's the one who can tell us."

An inquest into the death of the men, who had been hired by a Birmingham agency to work at the farm where the private crossing is situated, opened on Thursday.

Crash investigation

The inquest heard that two of the men had been living in Smethwick, West Midlands, and one had been living in Stoke-on-Trent.

The minibus, carrying nine foreign workers, was travelling over the crossing at 0824 BST when it was in collision with the 0703 BST First Great Western service from Hereford to London.

Six of the minibus passengers were injured - three seriously - while one passenger on the train was slightly hurt.

The inquest was adjourned for three months while the police investigation continues.

The coroner warned that even when the inquest reconvenes he may have to make another adjournment because the investigation into the crash is expected to take many months to complete.