One passenger remains in a "serious but stable" condition in hospital after a train collided with a sewage tanker at a railway crossing in Suffolk, emergency services said.
Twenty-one people were injured when the front carriage of the two-car train came off the tracks late Tuesday after smashing into the lorry in the village of Little Cornard, near Sudbury.
Witnesses said they heard a sound like a bomb exploding when the train and truck collided at 5.35 pm (1635 GMT) and then saw dazed passengers covered in blood wandering around near the scene of the accident.
The lorry burst open on impact, spilling sewage across the tracks but the train carriage did not tip over.
"There was a very, very loud bang. I've never heard anything like it. I thought it was an aeroplane crash or a bomb going off," said Jack Barnett, 65, a retired lorry driver who lives close to the scene of the crash.
The driver of the lorry, a 38-year-old man from Cambridgeshire, was arrested by Suffolk Police on suspicion of dangerous driving.
A 58-year-old man trapped on the train sustained life-threatening injuries and is in intensive care, said British Transport Police (BTP).
Twenty other people were hurt but their injuries were not life-threatening. Five of them were taken to Colchester General hospital with injuries including broken ribs, back pain and heavy bruising.
The driver of the 17:31 National Express East Anglia service sustained back injuries and remains in hospital.
The recovery operation and investigation into the collision continued into Wednesday, when a 130-tonne crane was to be taken to the site.
?Following yesterday?s rescue operation, our main task today will be to gather physical and technical evidence,? said Deputy Chief Constable Paul Crowther.
"We were unable to access the train cab last night, but once the train has been secured today, we will be able to do that."
Moving the train would pose "a significant challenge", BTP said.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch and Network Rail (NR) are separately investigating the accident.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said it was time to start getting rid of level crossings.
"Once again we have seen a crash at a level crossing, leaving many passengers and train staff seriously injured," he said.
"The fact is that every level-crossing collision is avoidable, because the time is long overdue for a programme to eliminate level crossings from Britain's railway network."
Copyright 2010 AFP European Edition
