Medical Problems of the Moorgate Underground Disaster

Extract

A few minutes before 9:00 a.m. on Friday 28th February 1975, a call was made to London Ambulance from Moorgate Station, stating nothing more than a train driver had been injured. Some three minutes later, a second call came which indicated that there had in fact, been a major disaster with many casualties. The extent of the casualties and difficulties to be encountered were still not realized, and only when the first of the rescue services and a medical team entered the wreckage was, what was before them was apparent. Three cars containing commuters had been compressed and “concertinaed” into a a blind ending tunnel. Three cars having a combined total length of 150 feet, with a possible total capacity of 440 persons, had been crushed in a tunnel with a maximum length of some 67 feet. Fortunately, despite the time, the cars were not full to capacity, and the total number of injured was only 113.