Train derails north of London, killing six

Associated Press WriterPOTTERS BAR, England (AP) -- A high-speed express train derailed Friday on its way through a station north of London and one carriage crashed onto the platform, scattering waiting passengers and killing six on board, officials said.

Sixty people were injured, 15 of them seriously.

It was the sixth fatal accident since 1997 on Britain's widely criticized rail network.

The northbound London-to-King's Lynn train, carrying 151 people, went off the tracks in Potters Bar town, 12 miles north of London -- and seven miles from the city of Hatfield, the scene of a deadly derailment in October 2000 in which four people died.

"The line speed on this stretch of track is 100 mph and there's reason to assume that's the speed the train would have been doing," said Robin Gisby, spokesman for Railtrack, which is responsible for rail infrastructure.

"All of a sudden I saw this train coming towards the platform. The first thing I did was run," said Andy Perversi, who had been waiting on the platform to catch a train to London. "I turned around and started running down the platform. ... there was a train carriage on its side coming towards Potters Bar."

Three front carriages remained upright further up the track, and one was on its side on the station platform, lodged under the roof.

After Perversi ran from the oncoming train carriage, he said he saw a woman lying on the rail line and went to her.

"I climbed down to help her. I took her pulse and that was weak and I tried to check if she was breathing," he said. "I held her in my arms to try and comfort her and started screaming for help" until a paramedic came.

"I also saw a lady with her leg stuck under the train," he said.

Witnesses said the train appeared to have hit the station platform after crossing a nearby bridge that takes the railway line over a road.

Helen Edmondson, spokeswoman for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance Service, said no one remained aboard and that everyone was being treated.

Police said the train derailed around 12:55 p.m. 10 minutes after it set out from King's Cross.

Rail trouble has often caused fear and delays for British commuters.