UPDATE - Fatalities in London tram accident

UPDATES WITH CASUALTY FIGURES, AMBULANCE STATEMENT, DRIVER ARREST

By Michael Sercan Daventry

LONDON (AA) - Five passengers were killed in a tram derailment in south London on Wednesday, emergency services said.

Fifty-one others were hospitalized when the two-coach tram came off the tracks and ended on its side around 6.10 a.m. local time (0610GMT) in the suburb of Croydon.

At least five passengers trapped inside a carriage had to be rescued.

The driver of the derailed tram has been arrested.

“A number of people have been taken to hospital with injuries sustained in the incident and sadly there has been some loss of life,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement.

London Ambulance Service Deputy Director Peter McKenna said in a statement: “We have treated a number of patients at the scene, mainly for minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, however, very sadly, some people have died and others have suffered serious injuries.”

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear although there was torrential rain across London overnight.

Local resident Hannah Collier described hearing a “massive crash”. She told the BBC: “I heard people shouting and then the emergency services arriving. Later I saw at least one person being brought out on a stretcher.”