Death crash car lands on railway

Grampian Police are investigating the accident

A teenager has died after the car he was driving somersaulted down an embankment and landed next to a railway line, where it was then hit by a train.

The man, who was in his late teens, was driving a BMW along the A95, about a mile east of Keith, at 2125 BST on Tuesday when the car left the road.

It landed upside down next to the Aberdeen to Inverness line where it was struck a glancing blow by a train.

The driver was cut free from the wreckage but was pronounced dead.

This was a particularly horrific crash which could have had horrendous consequences had the vehicle come to rest on the rail tracks Insp Ian Kirkwood Grampian Police

Police said the car appeared to have somersaulted several times after leaving the road, following a spell of heavy rain.

The railway line and the A95 were both closed for several hours following the accident, although both have now reopened.

Slight damage was caused to the train, which was heading north, and none of the passengers were injured.

Extra care

Police, fire and ambulance staff attended the scene along with rail officials, who confirmed that that the tracks were not damaged.

Police said the car appeared to have somersaulted several times after leaving the road.

Flowers have been left at the scene of the fatal crash

Insp Ian Kirkwood, from Grampian Police, said: "This was a particularly horrific crash which could have had horrendous consequences had the vehicle come to rest on the rail tracks.

"Thankfully the train made only a glancing blow to the BMW and train passengers were probably unaware of the incident.

"We are in the process of piecing together the events leading up to the collision and I would appeal to anyone who may have seen a dark-coloured 3 series BMW being driven in the Keith area around the time of the crash to contact police."

He added: "I would appeal very strongly to drivers to take extra precautions when driving in the current weather conditions.

"There is still a lot of heavy rain falling. We have had a long dry spell followed by two days of heavy rain and that clearly affects road conditions. It is much harder to control a vehicle in these conditions."