Driver's desperate emergency call

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A motorist whose vehicle fell onto a rail line causing the devastating crash in northern England made a frantic emergency call moments before the disaster, according to police.

He made the 999 call to warn emergency services that his vehicle was blocking the rail line -- but as he spoke to the operator he had to watch helplessly as the passenger train ploughed through the Land Rover.

REFERENCE Selby Train Crash   •  Collision map   •  Motorist's 999 call   •  'Like a bomb'   •  Emergency response   •  The day in quotes   •  Official reaction   •  Blow to UK railroads   •  Rail company statement   •  UK rail crash timeline

"At 6.12am this morning we had a call from a man who said he had been in a road accident," said a spokesman for North Yorkshire Police.

"He was on the M62 going west, not far from the A1. The vehicle, he said, had left the M62, gone down an embankment and the vehicle was on the railway line.

"While the operator was speaking to him we heard him shout: 'The train's coming', and then there was a bang.

"The man, who was slightly injured, said the train has just crashed through his Land Rover which was towing a trailer with a car on it. The train has continued and the vehicle was not on the line.

"At this point 999 calls started coming in saying a train had derailed and that was the origins of the major incident we are now dealing with," the spokesman said.

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