NSW: Six dead in Blue Mountains train crash = 2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-02-1999
NSW: Six dead in Blue Mountains train crash = 2

Lindsay Plim, owner of Glenbrook Newsagency, was in the first carriage of the commuter
train with his daughter, Kate, when it crashed into the rear of the Indian pacific, killing
at least six people.

"We were sitting on the bottom level, when a man came running out of the front ...

it was the driver and he said `everybody get down'," Mr Lindsay told AAP.

"As soon as he said that, we went into this monstrous skid.

"As soon as he said `down', all the seats came forward in the impact."

A local resident said the commuter train slammed into the back of the Indian Pacific,
which had been stopped.

"I heard a big bang," he told ABC radio.

"It actually shook my house ... which is about 75 metres from the railway line."

He said the front carriage of the inter-city train telescoped into the rear of the
Indian Pacific.

Another witness Paul Waite, of Glenbrook, was at his mother's house near Glenbrook
station when the accident happened.

"The carriages on impact have jack-knifed straight up," he told Melbourne's 3AW radio station.

"To be quite honest it looks very similar in some ways to the Granville train disaster."

He said there were lots of ambulances and fire brigades vehicles at the scene.

"It appears this is quite a nasty situation."

CityRail said the CityRail train ran into the back of the Sydney-bound Indian Pacific about 8am.

The fate of the train's crew was unknown at this stage.

An ambulance spokesman said 15 of the injured had been taken to Penrith's Nepean Hospital
and Katoomba's Blue Mountains Hospital.

The more seriously injured were still being stabilised at the scene.

About 1,000 peak hour travellers were believed to be aboard the CityRail train.

A NSW Fire Brigades spokesman said about 30 firefighters were at the scene.

They included hazardous material and tactical support units from Sydney equipped with
breathing apparatus.

AAP dk/tsm/mo/bwl

KEYWORD: TRAIN SECOND LEAD 2 SYDNEY

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