Talerddig - BTP apology

[Tomos y Tanc]

Aplologies if there is already a thread on this but I can't see one. BBC Cymru Fyw are reporting that BTP have apologised to the family of David Tudor Evans, the man who died during the accident. The lack of support for the family seems apalling. I'm not sure English language media are across this yet.

 

[thenorthern]

Aplologies if there is already a thread on this but I can't see one. BBC Cymru Fyw are reporting that BTP have apologised to the family of David Tudor Evans, the man who died during the accident. The lack of support for the family seems apalling. I'm not sure English language media are across this yet.

Wales Online have it.

Police force apologises to family of man who died in train crash

David Tudor Evans was killed after the head-to-head crash, which investigators suspect was caused by slippery rails​

A police force has apologised to the family of a man who died when two trains collided in mid-Wales. David Tudor Evans, 66, died after two Transport for Wales (TfW) trains collided head on in Talerddig, near Llanbrynmair in Powys at 7.26pm on October 21.

Now a close family friend has accused the British Transport Police (BTP) – who are investigating the incident – of failing to support the family, with the force issuing an apology on Thursday. Speaking to the PA news agency, the family friend said: “The fact is that on the night in question, she (Rachel Evans, Mr Evans’ wife) was pretty much left to her own devices, support wasn’t adequately provided at the time.”

Police force apologises to family of man who died in train crash

David Tudor Evans was killed after the head-to-head crash, which investigators suspect was caused by slippery rails

www.walesonline.co.uk

 

[Merseysider]

The article reads:

The British Transport Police have apologized to the family of a man who died when two trains collided in Powys.

David Tudor Evans, 66, died after two Transport for Wales trains collided at Talerddig, near Llanbrynmair in Powys at 19:26 on 21 October.

A close friend of the family has now accused the British Transport Police (BTP) - who are investigating the incident - of failing to support the family.
On Thursday the police officially apologized.
Speaking to the PA news agency, a friend of the family said: "The truth is that Rachel Evans - Mr Evans' wife - on the night of the collision was left alone without adequate support."

On 22 October the police issued a statement which said, "the next of kin of the deceased have been informed and his family are being supported by specialist officers".
But a specialist police officer did not visit until Wednesday 23 October.

The friend also said the family disagreed with media reports suggesting a cause of death.
"At the moment, the reports say that the cause of death was not related to the collision and there is no evidence of that," he said.
On Wednesday the inquest into the cause of Tudor Evans' death was opened and it was noted that the cause of death had not yet been recorded.

Superintendent Andrew Morgan of the British Transport Police said: "We would like to apologize for the statement issued in error shortly after the train collision which occurred on Monday 21 October in Llanbrynmair.
"British Transport Police have apologized directly to the family of the deceased for this statement and would like to publicly apologize for any additional suffering caused at this extremely difficult time."

During the inquest on Wednesday afternoon, Ceredigion's assistant coroner, Louisa Corcoran, said that a post-mortem was underway, and therefore that a medical cause of death had not yet been recorded.
Ms Corcoran explained that an inquest date had not been appointed, and that they have not set a date for a pre-inquest hearing either - due to the "complexity" of the investigation.

Four other people were seriously injured during the incident, and a further 11 were treated in hospital.
According to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, RAIB, initial investigations suggest that the level of grip between the wheels and the track was low, and that the train slipped while trying to come to a stop.
They added that initial investigations also suggest that the accident happened at a speed of 15mph.

 

[Wyrleybart]

Wales Online have it.

Sincere condolences to the family of Mr Evans

I am struggling with the media reports quoted here inasmuch as - is there a subtle difference between being killed and dying ? I was at work in the Control of a TOC that night and we heard stuff the way railway staff do.

 

[DelW]

Sincere condolences to the family of Mr Evans

I am struggling with the media reports quoted here inasmuch as - is there a subtle difference between being killed and dying ? I was at work in the Control of a TOC that night and we heard stuff the way railway staff do.

Well in general terms I'd say that "killed" means that the death was clearly the result of an external act or agency, while "died" has no such implication, obviously encompassing natural causes as well.

In this case it seems probable that the heart attack was triggered by the shock or stress of the accident, but (from the report above) it's unknown so far how likely the deceased might have been to have suffered such an attack anyway. Possibly a post mortem may be able to make some assessment of that, which might give some comfort to his widow and family.

 

[Llanigraham]

I do have concerns on why it was a "close friend of the family" that has complained, especially when the direct family had previously asked that they should be left to grieve in private. And what did this "close family friend" expect to happen?

The nearest BTP station is at Shrewsbury Railway Station and is not a big office, mostly staffed by PCSOs. I very much doubt they have a trained Family Liaison Officer, so if BTP do have one, that person would have needed to come from even further away, possibly Cardiff or Birmingham.
The nearest Dyfed Powys Police Station is the Divisional Office in Newtown and whilst they might have a FLO, I'm not sure they would have been on duty at that time of night, so would have to have been called in.
The main Ambulance Station for the area is also in Newtown, but I know that ambulances were called from other local stations as well. Their first priority is the care of the injured.
The main Fire Station for this area is also in Newtown and in the evenings is not permanently manned but uses Retained Crews, as do the other nearby stations of Machynlleth and Llanidloes.

It does strike me that there are some who forget that this is a rural area where we don't have all the services you see and hear about in cities, and to be honest, genrally we don't expect them, but we we do have are very good, very caring and provide an excellent service.

It is also worth noting that a joint letter by TfW and Network Rail has been issued to every local resident in the area thanking them for their help and understanding following this tragic incident and all I have heard locally is nothing but praise from the immediate locals about the way it has all been dealt with.

 

[greatkingrat]

I think you are missing the point. The issue is not that the support officer didn't arrive instantly. The issue is that BTP released a statement saying they were supporting the family when they weren't.

 

[Lockwood]

I'm not sure English language media are across this yet.

Powys train crash: Police apologise to family of man who died

A friend of Mr Evans accused the British Transport Police of failing to support the family.

www.bbc.co.uk

Saw this, came to share it, saw this thread.

 

[Gloster]

We live in the most imperfect of all worlds and these things happen. It sound more like a cack-up: those making the announcement thought that the situation had been covered, but sheer practical obstacles meant that it hadn’t. I note that the close friend seems to be well informed, but doesn’t mention whether s/he did anything to support.

For that matter, some people do not want support or prefer friends and relations. Why does one sort of death require professional support, while with others the relatives are left to do the support. Do we really have to have the BTP or any other organisation pushing in?

Unfortunately there seems to be an attitude that every organisation must show how sympathetic it is or risk being pilloried in the media as ‘unfeeling’. This has got to the stage where it overrides the wishes of the relatives and common decency: corporate lawyers advice about a**e covering becomes the main concern.

 

[Cowley]

Picking any further over this on a public forum when we’re only armed with a few basic statements doesn’t seem right somehow, so I think we’ll just leave here.

Thanks everyone