Minibus driver to be questioned

Investigators at the scene of the crash

Police are waiting to interview the driver of a minibus which collided with a high speed express train killing three agricultural workers at a Worcestershire level crossing.

The 25-year-old, whose identity has not been confirmed, was driving the bus carrying workers when the crash happened at Pools Crossing, Ryden Lane, at Charlton between Pershore and Evesham on Monday.

West Mercia Police said they will interview him through an interpreter when he is released from hospital.

Police added they are having difficulty in finding out the identities of the three agricultural workers who died in the crash.

Various nationalities

The three workers died instantly and five others were injured, three seriously, when the 0703 BST Great Western train from Hereford to London Paddington collided with the minibus.

British Transport Police said inquiries have been complicated because the agricultural workers did not know each other and are of various nationalities including Asian, Somali and Iraqi.

Three men remain critically ill, one of them in intensive care, at Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital.

A further two men are being treated at Worcestershire Royal Infirmary but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Inquiries have revealed that no call was received at the signal box prior to the incident Health and Safety Executive spokeswoman

Rail services resumed on Tuesday on the track where the crash took place.

Concerns have now been raised by a number of local residents that foreign workers are using the region's roads without a valid driving licence.

British Transport Police say drivers crossing the line in Worcestershire are supposed to use a special phone to check no trains are coming, but the phone was not used on this occasion.

A spokeswoman said: "The Health and Safety Executive has examined the crossing and is happy that there is nothing untoward.

"Inquiries have revealed that no call was received at the signal box prior to the incident."

Click here for a map of the area

The unmanned private crossing is on the main line between Hereford and London Paddington and is on farmland.

Network Rail said the crossing, its telephone and the warning and instruction signs were all in perfect working condition.

The company said it wrote to the farmer on 17 January 2002, to remind him of the requirement to use the crossing correctly and warned that misuse could lead to prosecution.

POOLS CROSSING TRAIN CRASH 0824 Monday BST train collides with a minibus Three people killed Seven people injured The train was First Great Western Hereford to London

Network Rail said the farmer was personally visited in May 2003 to remind him of his safety obligations, and to check the crossing was properly signed and working.

The farmer did used the crossing correctly at 0803 BST on Monday, but the next call from the crossing was to say an accident had happened.

A spokesman for the Rail Safety and Standards Board said there had been two near misses at the crossing since 1995.

He said: "Since 1 January 1995, there have been two occasions when a train driver reported a near-miss with a road vehicle, and a further 15 occasions when misuse of the crossing was reported - usually occasions when the telephone was not used by the road user to confirm safe passage."

A spokeswoman for Herefordshire and Worcestershire Ambulance Service said an air ambulance and five land ambulances were called to the scene and the dead were recovered from the line.

Click here to return