The mother of Southall rail crash victim Peter Kavanagh today felt she had been "punched in the stomach" at the tragic news of the Paddington rail crash.

Maureen Kavanagh, of Somerset Road, Laindon, has just marked the second anniversary of her son's death in the first Great Western train crash.

Today's accident was on the same stretch of line as the Southall crash which killed the 29-year-old and seven others in September 1997. It also left 170 injured.

Mrs Kavanagh today called for the Government to step in and change procedures to make sure this can NEVER happen again.

She said: "A dear friend of mine called this morning and told me to turn on the television. I feel like I have been punched in the stomach. It really brings it all home. My husband is very upset at work.

"The only time this sort of thing really affects you is when you have been through it.

"This is not just news to my family. We have been through the torment of seeing the horrific pictures on telly and not knowing if our son was alive or dead.

"I am not crying for my son today. I am crying for all those people desperately trying to find out if their loved one is injured or even dead.

"I have been sitting listening to evidence given in the inquiry for the Southall crash.

"We have been told by Great Western that changes have been made to make sure there could not be a repeat. Right in the middle of that inquiry it has gone and happened again.

"I hope people do not have to wait two years like I have for an inquiry.

"This has actually happened on the same stretch of the same line and with the same company to boot."

Carnage - the charred remains of the trains that collided near Paddington this morning

Rescued - a passenger is carried to waiting ambulances

At least eight dead in rail smash

At least eight passengers died today and hundreds more were injured when two mainline trains collided near London's Paddington Station at the height of the morning rush hour.

More than two hours after the smash rescuers were still frantically trying to free passengers from the twisted and scorched wreckage.

Two patients were being taken by air ambulance to the St Andrew's plastic surgery and burns unit, part of the Broomfield Hospital, near Chelmsford.

A further four casualties were being taken to the same unit by road.

Carriages were set ablaze by the collision and derailment, and survivors spoke of hearing cries for help from victims trapped in the burning carriages after the crash about two miles from Paddington, near Ladbroke Grove.

Scores of shocked commuters staggered from the wreckage of the two trains - the high-speed 6.03am Cheltenham to Paddington Great Western service and the Thames Trains 8.06am Paddington to Bedwyn, Wilts, local service.

Eye-witnesses spoke of an inferno which engulfed some of the carriages after the collision, which happened at 8.11am.

Several victims suffered burn injuries and hospitals across London were put on emergency alert.

At 11.30am British Transport Police confirmed eight dead, but said they were still checking the wreckage and the death toll could rise considerably.

Chief Inspector Brian Gosden said: "I can confirm that four people are dead. There may be others. The rescue is still taking place and there are a number of people trapped in the train."

Eye witness David Chater reported counting six bodies at the scene.

The accident happened on the same stretch of line as the Southall rail crash in September 1997 in which seven people died and 150 were injured.

There were chaotic scenes at the crash site today with victims still being carried away hours after the collision.

Chief Inspector Gosden said that by 10am a "great number" of passengers - possibly up to 100 - were still trapped in the wreckage.

He said: "There are people still trapped on the trains. The emergency services are in the process of rescuing them."

Eyewitnesses gave graphic accounts of the carnage.

Mark Rogers, who was on one of the trains, said: "I was pitched forwards.

"I was reading a book and found myself crashing into the person opposite me. The train was going over and over and over and people were thrown onto the floor.

"People were screaming, a person pretty clearly dead, a woman who was thrown out of the train.

"It was a shocking and terrible experience," he said.

BBC Radio 5 Live executive editor Phil Longman was also on board one of the trains.

He said: "There was an initial bang and the train seemed to leap in the air and I thought 'Oh Christ this is it'.

"There was another bang and I was flung forward and I saw a piece of wreckage to the side of the window... I thought the wreckage was going to come through the window.

"The guard came on the Tannoy and told people to walk to the back of the train.

"You could hear him calling out for help from the emergency services. He said 'major emergency, major emergency'."

Mr Longman added: "There was a fire by the track side which seemed to be very hot and people were getting fairly worried about it. The guard came on and made people move to the back of the train.

"Then there was a bit of panic because we couldn't get the doors open.

"I got hold of one of these little hammers that you have on 125 trains. I was about to break the window when the doors came open and we started helping women and elderly people onto the track."

Asked if it was a head-on crash, Mr Longman said: "I understand from hearing other people that the Thames Train was not quite head-on.

"I think we hit on an angle, on the side of the Thames Train."

He added: "There are a number of people I think fairly seriously injured on my side of the track. A lot of people are sitting stunned.

"'Firemen with listening equipment are listening to the side of the train. There's a lot of activity going on. There are 60 or 70 emergency service vehicles here."

EMERGENCY INFO: 0171 834 7777, 0207 834 7777, 01242 276729

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.