British police began a detailed investigation today into a high-speed train crash which killed six people and injured many more.
A passenger train carrying 300 passengers ploughed into a car at a level crossing and flew off the rails in southern England last night.
Deputy chief constable Andy Trotter of British Transport Police said it was "remarkable" so many had escaped alive.
"It is quite remarkable...if you look at the scene...which is a scene of some great devastation, that so many people managed to escape from such an awful event," he told reporters.
"Scenes of crime officers...are now combing the site looking for evidence to find out what happened," Trotter said. He promised a "meticulous investigation" into the crash.
There was no indication that infrastructure failure or railway staff were responsible for the crash, in a country where rail safety has been a political issue since a series of deadly crashes followed the industry's privatisation in the 1990s.
Rail analysts said the train from London's Paddington station to Plymouth in western England would have been travelling at 100 miles per hour as it approached the crossing and passengers said it braked hard just before the crash.
Police said one of the six killed was in the car. The train's operator First Great Western, a subsidiary of rail and bus operator FirstGroup Plc, said the train driver was another of those killed. Among scores injured, 11 were seriously hurt.
Transport Secretary Mr Alastair Darling promised a thorough investigation. "This is clearly a very serious accident and my deepest sympathies are with those involved and affected".
Britain's biggest rail union RMT called for the elimination of level crossings on high-speed rail lines.
"The Railways Inspectorate has already identified level crossings as the biggest single danger on today's railway network," RMT general secretary Mr Bob Crow said in a statement.
"The industry must take immediate steps to begin a programme of replacing level crossings with road-bridges or underpasses on all lines carrying high-speed traffic, and to undertake a feasibility study with the ultimate aim of removing all level crossings on Britain's railway network."
Rail crashes blamed on shoddy maintenance and poor driver training over the past five years have killed 42 people, shaking up the industry and causing political damage for the government.