Police force apologises to family of man who died in Wales train collision
The British Transport Police have apologised to the family of David Tudor Evans for saying they were supporting the family.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.”
On October 22 the force put out a statement saying, “the deceased’s next of kin have been informed and his family are being supported by specialist officers”.
But a specialist officer from the BTP visited the family only on October 23.
The friend also said the family also objected to media reports suggesting the cause of death.
“Currently, news outlets are putting out that the cause of death was not related to the collision without any evidence,” he said.
“The opening of the inquest was yesterday, and the cause of death is still indeterminate.”
BTP superintendent Andrew Morgan apologised for their earlier statement.
He said: “We would like to apologise for a miscommunication issued shortly after the train collision which took place on Monday October 21 in Llanbrynmair.
“British Transport Police has apologised directly to the family of the deceased in relation to this statement and would like to apologise publicly for any additional suffering caused at this extremely difficult time.”
Louisa Corcoran, assistant coroner for Ceredigion, opened an inquest into his death at the Aberystwyth Justice Centre on Wednesday.
She said a post-mortem examination is in progress and adjourned the inquest while the police investigation was ongoing.
Four other people suffered serious injuries during the incident, and a further 11 sustained injuries requiring hospital treatment.
Investigators from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) suspected the incident was caused by slippery rails.
The RAIB has said the condition of the track on the approach to the collision point meant “adhesion” between wheels and rails was “relatively low”.
It said this suggested an Aberystwyth-bound train may have slid while braking, causing it to crash at a speed of around 15mph into a stationary train destined for Shrewsbury.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.