Six killed in a weekend of carnage on the roads

A WEEKEND of traffic carnage saw six people killed and dozens more hurt in pile-ups.

M40 crash causes traffic delaysTWITTER/@ZARACAKES

Motorists were warned to expect delays after the pile-up

Three men died and another suffered life-threatening injuries early on Saturday when a coach ploughed into their broken-down car on the hard shoulder of the M1.

The driver of the coach was arrested and interviewed by police following the crash between Junction 12 and 13 of the motorway near Flitwick, Beds.

He was later released on unconditional bail.

Nathan Reeves, 23, has been named locally as one of the three men who died in the Audi A3.

Mr Reeves, from Newport Pagnell, Bucks, was on his way back from a night out in London with two friends in their 20s, thought to be from nearby Milton Keynes.

Four Die In Coach Crash And Motorway Pile-Up - SKy News

The M40 crash near BicesterIG

The crash as seen from the air

Mr Reeves’s death was a double tragedy for his family who, neighbours said, are still mourning his cousin Shane Willett, who died four months ago when his car hit a house and burst into flames.

The three men were thought to be West Ham fans.

Soccer star Rio Ferdinand, who started his career at the club, paid tribute on Twitter, as did fellow star Stan Collymore.

The horror smash signalled a miserable start to the half-term getaway after another man died and more than 50 were hurt, six seriously, in a pile-up in thick fog 20 miles away on the M40.

The crash, which involved around 40 vehicles, closed the northbound carriageway near Bicester, Oxfordshire, for more than eight hours – causing four-mile tailbacks.

The minibus involved in the crash near BurtonTWITTER/HOCKEYSAL

The minibus involved in the crash near Burton

Chief Inspector Henry Parsons, of Thames Valley Police, said: “The cause of this collision is under investigation.

"However, we believe that fog played a major part.

“This has been an extraordinarily large collision.

“We have not had a collision on this scale for many years in Thames Valley.”

On Sunday two more people were killed and six injured when a minibus and a lorry crashed in Tutbury, near Burton-on-Trent, Staffs.

HGV involved in the crash in BurtonTWITTER/HOCKEYSAL

HGV involved in the crash in Burton

This has been an extraordinarily large collision

Henry Parsons, Chief Inspector

Emergency services said one of the injured, a man in his 20s, was in a critical condition with “serious head injuries”.

A man in his 40s from Portugal and a male in his 20s from Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, were both held on suspicion of causing death by careless driving.

The minibus was carrying a party of Spanish nationals to their workplace.

Five people have been treated and discharged from hospital.

On Saturday afternoon a Norwich city bus full of passengers was involved in a crash with four other cars.

Two people – a female passenger on the bus and a male driver of one of the cars – needed hospital treatment but have since been released. 

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