In the
middle of rush hour in London, England two trains crashed on October
5, 1999. The accident happened near Paddington Station, which is less
than a mile north of Notting Hill. This is one of Britain's worst train
crashes in fifty years.
In 1957,
90 people were killed when an express train and a suburban train hit
each other in southeast London. In this accident, one train was heading
out from Paddington Station and the other was filled with people and
traveling into Paddington Station. Many people on the train were headed
to work for the day.
Right after
the crash, a fire broke out in many of the train cars. So far 70 people
have been killed, over 150 have been hurt and 100 people are still missing.
Many of the injured had severe burns from the fire. The President of
the United States made this statement after the accident: "I want to
offer my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who
were injured or killed in yesterday's train crash in London.
The incident
was particularly tragic because it happened in such an everyday setting
- as commuters headed towards another day at work. Our thoughts and
prayers go out to the Americans who were among the injured, and all
the victims and their families." The cause of this recent accident is
not yet known.
