Potters Bar, England ? A high-speed train derailed Friday on its way through a station north of London and one car crashed onto the platform, scattering waiting passengers. Seven people were killed in the accident and nine seriously injured, officials said.

At least 45 others suffered less severe injuries, British Transport Police said, in this sixth fatal accident since 1997 on Britain’s widely criticized rail network.

A train carriage sits astride two platforms under a bridge at the Potters Bar, England, railway station. A high-speed express train derailed Friday on its way through a station north of London and one carriage leapt onto the platform, scattering waiting passengers. Officials said seven people were killed.

The northbound London-to-King’s Lynn train, carrying 151 people, went off the tracks in Potters Bar, a quiet suburban town 12 miles north of London.

It was thought to have been traveling at 100 mph, the regulation speed on that stretch of track, said Robin Gisbey, spokesman for Railtrack, which is responsible for rail infrastructure.

“All of a sudden I saw this train coming toward the platform. The first thing I did was run,” said Andy Perversi, who had been on the platform with as many as 25 people.

The train car came to a halt on the platform, lodged under the station roof.

Perversi said he then saw a woman lying on the rail line. “I climbed down to help her. I took her pulse and that was weak, and I tried to check if she was breathing,” he said. “I held her in my arms to try and comfort her and started screaming for help.”

Real estate agent Jeremy Birchell, 28, saw the crash from his nearby office.

“The train was absolutely hoofing along and some part of it must have been off the rails already, because it knocked away parts of the bridge,” he said.

“It was going at a tremendous speed and when it struck there was a really, really loud noise, and I could feel it as well. I have never seen or heard anything like it in my life.”

He said he saw people leave the crashed car.

“There was one gentleman in his suit walking down the tracks with a head wound he was still carrying his briefcase,” Birchell said.

Inspector Philip Trendall of the British Transport Police said the other cars on the train remained upright and suffered no significant damage.

It was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash, he said.

But Gisbey of Railtrack said, “We have no evidence the train has gone through any signals.”

Chief Supt. David Hatcher of British Transport Police said it was not clear if all those killed had been in the car that flipped on its side.