Emergency services at the scene of the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster are expected to begin searching the wreckage of Carriage H later today or tomorrow for the bodies of the last of the passengers killed in Tuesday's crash. The confirmed number of dead is 30, but only three people have been identified.
Among the victims named last night was Mr Tony Beeton, a senior adviser to the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam. Mr Beeton, who worked as an equality and human rights adviser with the Northern Ireland Office in London, had been travelling to London from his home in Didcot, Oxon. Both the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and Dr Mowlam sent their condolences to his family.
Once the carriage has been secured with scaffolding the emergency services and a team of forensic scientists will move in to sift through the ashes. It is feared that once the search has been completed, possibly in the middle of next week, the final number of dead could reach 127.
That figure reflects the number of people unaccounted for, but the number is expected to fall when, police believe, more passengers come forward to say they survived the crash. The task of identifying the remaining victims could take several weeks as the extent of the fire damage means passengers may be identified only from dental records and DNA.
Relatives of the passengers feared dead in the crash held hands and wept at the scene yesterday when they arrived to witness the mangled wreckage. A group of about 45 relatives, accompanied by grief counsellors, a rabbi, two ministers and a chaplain, walked to the trackside in a sorrowful line and stood next to burnt-out shells of the Thames and First Great Western trains for 90 minutes. Many of the relatives hugged one another and others laid flowers just yards from the wreckage before they were driven away in coaches.
Earlier, Lord Cullen, the senior Scottish judge who has been appointed to head the public inquiry into the disaster, visited the scene.
Supt Tony Thompson, of British Transport Police, said the relatives had asked to view the wreckage. Some had travelled from the West Country to London. "Some relatives feel that it is a necessary part of the grieving process. Those that are expected to come to the scene are convinced that their loved ones have died," he said.
There is a long task ahead for the police to identify victims, but the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, Mr Andy Trotter, confirmed that the task was slowly narrowing down as the number of people unaccounted for had fallen from 170 to 127 during the day.
Police have confirmed that the drivers of both trains are among the dead. The driver of the Thames train, Mr Michael Hodder (31), died in the crash as he was heading home to Reading to celebrate his son's seventh birthday. First Great Western described its driver, who was a married man in his 50s, as "very experienced".