London – A rush-hour train packed with 119 commuters derailed Wednesday in Liverpool as it went through a tunnel, but nobody was injured, police said.
The train came off the track about 6 p.m. as it traveled toward the Central Station in the northwestern English city, police said.
Emergency services assisted passengers off the train and out through the underground tunnel.
Assistant Chief Constable Helen King said the accident appeared to have been caused by a mechanical failure. “There is nothing to indicate any type of criminal attack, we want to reassure people of that,” King said.
British Transport Police said the train derailed at a low speed.
Merseyrail, the company that operates Liverpool’s underground train service, said it would launch a full investigation into the derailment.
There have been several fatal train accidents in Britain in recent years. Last November, a passenger train slammed into a car at a railroad crossing west of London, killing six people and injuring 36. Seven were killed and 11 seriously injured in May 2002 when an express train derailed at Potters Bar, north of London. In October 2000, four died and 102 were injured when a train derailed at Hatfield, north of London.
