Hero describes horror of train crash

Father in law and husband first on scene - were behind the truck and watched it all happen This is the front of the train the driver was trapped in. Source: Herald Sun

Mick McGuigan, 54, (right) of Seaford, and his son Luke, 29, were among the first on the scene and helped to pull the train driver out of the wreckage. Picture: Derrick Den Hollander Source: Herald Sun

A HERO who helped free a train driver buried under rubble after a fatal crash said the moment of collision was "like a bomb going off".

A 43-year-old Cranbourne West man was killed, and at least 11 others were injured after a truck went through the Abbott St level crossing yesterday at 11.40am in Dandenong South.

Mick McGuigan, 54, saw the carnage from his car as the six-carriage train clipped the truck.

Jumping through a smashed cabin window, Mr McGuigan dug frantically for 10 minutes with another man to free the train driver after noticing a toe poking out under 1.5m of debris, potatoes, mushroom and mud.

A truck hauling vegetables had ploughed through boom gates, sending the Metro train flying off the tracks.

Authorities last night warned it could take five days to reopen the Cranbourne line, sending Melbourne Cup commuters' travel plans into chaos.

The front carriage was all twisted up, seats turned upside down and one woman was holding on to the window trapped under a chair

Police last night took a blood sample from the 59-year-old driver for analysis. His mobile phone was also taken by investigators who will check his call and text records.

Det-Sgt Rohan Courtis said the driver was upset.

"He has been very co-operative," Sgt Courtis said. "We are still investigating, it is still too early to say if there will be any charges applicable. We know that the boomgates were down at the time of the crash and he went through them."

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The Narre Warren North man is a professional truck driver who moves goods from Footscray market to supermarkets, police say.

Police last night also took the driver back to the scene. He was later released pending summons.

At the time of the crash, Mr McGuigan said he could not believe his eyes as he sat in his car with his son watching the south-bound train travelling at 115km/h then jack-knifing into the air.

The front carriage tipped over and the other carriages were derailed.

Train smash in Dandenong South. Picture: Channel 7 Source: Supplied

"You could hear his (the truck driver's) brakes lock up, then all this smoke came up and then he tried to move around the boom gates," he said.

"It sounded like a bomb went off when they collided."

Mr McGuigan said he called in other onlookers to start searching the train for the injured.

He worried there would be no survivors as he walked on, manoeuvring his feet carefully in fear that he would walk on a passenger trapped under the rubble.

Source: HWT Image Library

"It was total chaos inside and everything was thrown out of place," he said.

"The front carriage was all twisted up, seats turned upside down and one woman was holding on to the window trapped under a chair."

Mr McGuigan said they almost gave up searching until another fellow rescuer yelled "I can see a toe".

The toe belonged to the train driver.

They moved the debris off the driver with their hands. His legs were twisted, his head was bleeding, his eyes were swollen and bloodshot and he had a gash on his back.

"We got a bottle of water and then I washed his face and eyes because he couldn't properly," he said.

"He wasn't able to talk but we were just saying, 'it's going to be all right, we'll get you out'. He was in a mess and we had to reassure him and not let him fall asleep."

The truck lies on its side at a level crossing in Dandenong South after a fatal train crash. Picture: Jon Hargest Source: Herald Sun

The train driver's brother, who is also a Metro train driver, kept vigil yesterday at the Alfred Hospital.

"He's got a bit of injury to his head and we're just going have to wait and see," the brother said.

"We're getting calls every hour on his condition."

Some wounded passengers were able to get themselves off the train.

One described her ordeal as "the worst experience that I have ever had" while another remarked "I thought I would be dead".

Assistant Police Commissioner Robert Hill said it was not known why the truck went through the boomgates.

"For some unknown reason the truck has travelled through the boom gate while it's already down," Mr Hill said.

"The truck has collided with the first carriage. It has T-boned the first carriage. As a consequence the train has derailed."

Public Transport Victoria chief Ian Dobbs said: "This is one of the more serious accidents we have had in the last 20 to 30 years."

- with Angus Thompson

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