A NORTH-EAST survivor of the rail crash last night described how a newspaper may well have saved his life.

Daniel Wilson, 27, originally from Darlington, said it was a miracle he had not been sitting in the carriage that was derailed after deciding to move further up the train.

Senior Aircraftsman Wilson, an RAF firefighter, was travelling to his girlfriend's house in King's Lynn for the weekend.

"I was running late so I jumped on the back of the train," he said. "I wanted to read my paper so I looked for a seat with a table.

"There was one seat right at the front of the train, so I sat there.

"We were travelling along when it felt like we had hit something. It was just like a little bump. The train then ground to a halt and I was thrown on to the woman in front of me.

"None of us knew what had happened. Everyone in my carriage was very calm and quiet.

"Then I looked behind me and realised one of the carriages had disappeared."

The uninjured passengers were kept on the train for two hours while the emergency services dealt with those who had been hurt, although Mr Wilson said fellow passengers in his carriage suffered nothing worse than bruising.

"The fact I moved down the train was a miracle," he said.

"I am very lucky - it was a real act of God."

Afterwards, he phoned his parents, Pearl and Brian, who live in Osbourne Close, Darlington.