Describing the harrowing and strong impact, he told the BBC: "When I got up, I saw all of the chairs everywhere, I felt like I had been in a bomb explosion. When I got up, I saw people's bloodied faces, people's legs looked broken. "There was smoke everywhere."

In a separate interview with the Press Association, the 40-year-old recalled hearing people "crying, screaming" following the powerful impact between trains.

He continued: “I got up and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs, and then I managed to get out of the train and because I’m quite thin I was able to squeeze out through the gap in the doors.”

He added: “My first thought was I needed to get out of the train just in case it was a terrorist explosion, I thought it was safer to get off the train.”

The crash happened at approximately 5.15pm on June 19. The British Transport Police (BTP) has since confirmed one person has sadly died, and dozens of people were left injured.

East of England Ambulance Service said 11 people suffered "very serious" injuries while 22 others were seriously hurt. A further 56 people sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene or in hospital.

All patients with the most serious injuries have all now been taken to hospital.

The two trains involved in the incident were both East Midlands Railway (EMR) services operating the 4.40pm departure from Corby and the 3.50pm departure from Nottingham, both to London St Pancras.

Amid the major emergency response, which included several air ambulances, firefighters and police officers, members of the public were asked to avoid the scene of the crash.

Bedford Hospital and Luton and Dunstable University Hospital both asked people not to attend their emergency departments “unless they have a genuine medical emergency” as they responded to the incident.

EMR trains to and from the London were suspended for the rest of the day.