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Four relatives die in M1 crash with car going wrong way
Jack Lefley20.04.09
FOUR members of the same family were killed in a head-on crash with a car being driven the wrong way up the M1.
A middle-aged mother and her son and daughter, both in their twenties, and their uncle, died when their Jaguar collided with the car. Police said they were members of an Asian family returning home to London after a family gathering in the Midlands.
A Polish man driving a Volkswagen Passat appeared to have performed an illegal U-turn before driving north up the southbound carriageway near Luton.
All five were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after the smash at about 11.20pm on Saturday. Both cars were mangled by the collision, which happened between junctions 10 and 11 and scattered debris over a large part of the carriageway.
Collision investigators were today trying to work out why the man had turned the Polish-registered VW around just before roadworks and headed in the wrong direction.
They were trying to establish if the man, who was alone in the car, was confused by the roadworks or may have missed his exit and turned round.
Inspector Colin Bonner, of Bedfordshire Police, said: "We don't know why this driver turned around - it may have been roadworks, he may have been confused or ill.
"We only have one witness who has come forward to say they saw the car going the wrong way. I am sure there would have been others who saw this person travelling the wrong way and may have had a near miss themselves.
"The vehicle would have been travelling towards junction 10.
"We are desperate to hear from anyone who saw what happened."
Gary Sanderson, of the East of England Ambulance Service, said the five victims were "quickly" pronounced dead by paramedics.
He said: "The cars were unrecognisable and there was nothing that could be done for the people involved."
The motorway was closed for nearly six hours while the emergency services removed the bodies and wreckage and examined the crash scene.
Post-mortem examinations are due to be carried out today when the five victims are expected to be named.
Police are trying to contact the VW driver's family in Poland.
Reader views (2)
International driving licences are a joke. If you learn to drive on the left or right of the road, that does not mean you are able to just rock-up and drive on the other side. Nor do they take into account differences in road signs or the issue of reading signs in another language. A further example of 'freedom' for the sake of it, totally ignoring the potentially tragic consequences, as in this case.
- Philip, London, England
This tragic accident is only one of many happening every day but usually without such dire consequences. Foriegn registered trucks are involved in proportionately more accidents than their numbers would suggest. Without checking vehicles on arrival in the UK there is no means of quickly checking insurance or registration details.
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, England
