British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said the country was shocked by today's rail crash in which up to 15 people were feared to have died and dozens injured.
"This is a quite horrendous accident which has shocked the whole country," a Downing Street spokesman said, quoting from a statement from Mr Blair.
"All our thoughts are with the dead and injured and their families and friends at what is a very difficult time."
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Mr Blair said Deputy Prime Minister Mr John Prescott was on his way to the scene of the disaster south of Selby. He has since arrived.
Mr Prescott released a statement as he headed for the area.
"This is a dreadful accident at Selby," he said."We cannot speculate yet on the sequence of events that contributed to the crash, or on the exact number of casualties."
He said the crash was under investigation by the Rail Inspectorate of the government's Health and Safety Executive, as well as the British Transport Police, and other agencies would be involved as required.