His Majesty the King is ‘deeply saddened’ by the rail crash in Bedford, which left one train driver dead and dozens of crew and passengers injured on Friday evening.

The two trains involved in the collision at Bedford South were the 4.40 pm East Midlands Railway service from Corby to London St Pancras and the 3.50 pm Nottingham to London St Pancras service, the train operator said in a statement.

Now, King Charles has reacted to the incident. A spokesperson for the Monarch said: “His Majesty is greatly saddened by the rail crash in Bedford yesterday evening and is being kept regularly updated on developments. His thoughts and sympathies are with the family of the deceased and with all those injured or affected by such a tragic incident.”

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The East of England Ambulance Service said the crash had left 89 people injured to varying degrees, with 11 of them suffering “very serious injuries”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said reports of the collision were “hugely concerning” and that his thoughts were with the family of the person who died and with those seriously injured.

How did the crash happen?

The exact reason for the train collision still has not yet been discovered.

According to the BBC, Rail Accident Investigation Branch inspectors have attended the scene to begin gathering evidence and will conduct a full investigation.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said it was too early to speculate on what that investigation would conclude, while stressing the UK’s railways were “some of the safest in the world”.

“We will make sure that there’s a thorough investigation done to establish how this collision happened and to ensure that lessons are learned so that we don’t have an incident like this ever again,” she said.

Passenger Dr Peter Knapp told BBC News: “I felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.”