A train involved in a major crash outside Salisbury had been derailed for seven minutes before the collision, according to reports.

A newborn baby was said to have been caught up in yesterday’s drama, with around 17 people suffering injuries.

At around 6.45pm on Sunday evening, a Great Western Rail service from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads struck a mystery object in a tunnel, leaving its back carriages stranded.

It was then hit by a high speed South Western Railway service from London to Honiton in Devon.

Questions are being asked over why red lights in the area did not kick in and alert the driver of the second train that the track was blocked.

The initial derailment apparently knocked out the signalling, potentially exposing a ‘major flaw’ in the system.

Around 120 people had to be evacuated by firefighters and one of the drivers had to be cut out of his cabin after suffering a broken ankle.

Those living close to the crash site described hearing a sound ‘like a bomb going off.’

A senior Network Rail engineer who had seen details of how the crash unfolded told MailOnline that the GWR train’s derailment should have triggered an ‘automatic obstruction warning’ to stop any other trains from going within a one mile radius.

They added: ‘According to my system, the signalling system was aware seven minutes before impact. It should’ve automatically stopped the train. It should’ve automatically set all signals to red. If the driver didn’t see the signal, the system should’ve made the train stop.’  

In a statement late on Sunday night, British Transport Police confirmed there were no fatalities in the incident, but a ‘small number’ of people, including the driver of one of the trains, were taken to hospital to have their injuries assessed.

Great Western Railway (GWR) said the railway in the area would remain closed on Monday as ‘specialist teams continue their investigations’.

A mother who was out trick or treating with her family nearby likened the noise of the crash to ‘a bomb’ and ‘thunder’.

Tamar Vellacott said she was walking outside with her young children, mother and partner on Jewell Close, Bishopdown, around a kilometre from the scene.

‘It was a noise we’ve never heard before … my young ones started panicking thinking it was a bomb and we said maybe a lorry had crashed on the London Road and not to panic,’ the 25-year-old said.

‘There was no screeching like brakes, just a long rumbling sound like thunder hitting the railway line.’

One of the passengers on the Bristol train, Corinna Anderson, 51, told the BBC a three-week-old baby had to be rescued off the train by the fire service ‘thankfully she is doing ok.’

She added: ‘As I climbed off my train I saw the fireman cradling the baby in his arms and then I saw the mother get given the baby and they were escorted away for medical attention.’

Claire Mann, managing director of South Western Railway, said it is ‘too early to speculate’ about a collision between two trains in a tunnel near Salisbury.

She told Good Morning Britain: ‘Our focus at the moment is with the customers and colleagues that have been affected by this and obviously working with the emergency services to understand exactly what happened.

‘Speculation is really not appropriate at this time. We really need to wait for the investigation to take its course and then we’ll know exactly what happened.’

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