M5 reopens after crash kills three
- 00:00:56
- ITN
M5 reopens after crash kills three
A motorway has reopened after a horrific crash killed three people and injured at least 18 more.The M5 was closed for almost 11 hours after a van smashed through a central reservation near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, overturned and collided with a car.The driver of the delivery van, which was carrying beer barrels, his passenger and the driver of the Mitsubishi Colt, were pronounced dead at the scene.Police said the van driver, a 36-year-old man, and the passenger, a woman aged 35, were from Coventry, while the 44-year-old car driver was a man from the Edgbaston area of Birmingham.A woman and a child, thought to be about 11, were also severely injured in the accident between junctions eight and nine at 7.30pm on Friday.The girl was airlifted to Birmingham Children's Hospital by the County Air Ambulance based at Cosford and the woman was taken to Selly Oak Hospital by police helicopter.A man in his 20s was treated at the scene for head and chest injuries and transferred by land ambulance to Worcester Royal Hospital.At least 15 more people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, including cuts and bruises, West Midlands Ambulance said. Several more cars are believed to have collided trying to avoid the initial crash.The motorway reopened at 6am on Saturday after the crash forced the closure of the road in both directions.A police spokesman said: "A Volkswagen van travelling southbound went through the central barrier and crossed into the northbound carriageway, where it collided with a Mitsubishi Colt."Two people travelling in the van were both pronounced dead at the scene."The male driver of the Mitsubishi also died at the scene and a woman passenger in the vehicle was severely injured."Beer barrels spilled from the van when it crashed and nine other vehicles were damaged in the accident.
ITN | May 31, 2008
