[Breaking] 34-Vehicle Pile-Up On M5

[Zaune]

Guardian

Seven people have been killed and 51 injured in a horrific pile-up on the M5 in Somerset, police have confirmed.

The crash, which happened at around 8.30pm on Friday night was one of the worst on British roads in 20 years.

Assistant Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, overall incident commander, said in a statement: "Seven people are confirmed to have died as a result of this tragic incident and we do believe there could be more deaths.

"Our thoughts are with those who may have lost loved ones as a result of last night's collision."

He said a "large scale multi-agency operation" continued and it was unlikely that the road would be be re-opened until "tomorrow at the earliest".

The pile-up involved 34 vehicles between junctions 24 and 25 and caused a "massive fireball" on the northbound carriageway engulfing at least four trucks. Witnesses told of a number of explosions following the pile-up and flames shooting 200 metres into the sky.

A helpline for those worried about relatives and friends was opened on 0800 092 0410 but police asked that people make attempts to reach loved ones via personal telephones or friends first.

Emergency services worked through the night to free victims. Witnesses said conditions were treacherous as firefighters using hydraulic cutting equipment tried to rescue four people trapped in their vehicles. Television footage showed members of the public attempting to pry open car doors to help those stuck inside.

The force of the crash sent debris on to the other side of the carriageway, where tailbacks stretched to junction 22 – about 12 miles away.

For a motorway incident this was, Bangham said, "just about as big as it gets". He described the intensity of the fireball as "unusual".

It has been suggested that smoke from the nearby Bridgwater Guy Fawkes carnival could have worsened the fog on the road.

Police could not say whether the fireworks display might have been a factor, but Bangham said it was "certainly something we'll be looking at closely".

He said: "There's a number of factors that came into play. It was dark – it was about 8.25pm – it was particularly poor weather last night: we had fog banks on the motorway and we also had wet surface issues.

"We had in particular ground water in the Bridgwater area which we were dealing with.

"There were also other factors coming into play: there were events going on in the evening and of course we need to have a very close look at what was going on in the area that may have caused some sort of distraction."

He added: "It was a highly complex, very traumatic incident as well for our services and officers."

Witnesses said the pile-up was triggered when an Iceland truck suddenly disappeared into fog.

Ciara Neno, from Weston-super-Mare, said: "A black fog came down and the Iceland truck literally disappeared. We managed to brake and miss the lorry but it was too late, the carnage had already started.

"All we heard was thump, thump, thump. My husband dragged people from the cars, the smell was horrendous and there were a number of explosions. We walked away but others weren't so lucky."

Avon and Somerset police confirmed on Saturday morning that casualties ranged from those with life-threatening injuries to the walking wounded.

Bangham said some people had been trapped in their burning cars. A number of the vehicles were incinerated.

"The emergency services have been working tirelessly," he said. "The incident was very, very challenging and on arrival crews were faced with literally one massive fireball.

"Most vehicles were well alight and most continued to burn for a considerable time. This made it very difficult to search the vehicles. Some of them have been burned to the ground."

Dr Colin Close, medical director for Musgrove Park hospital in Taunton, said it was dealing with a range of injuries including broken limbs and complex chest, abdominal and lung injuries.

He said the hospital had dealt with "nothing of this magnitude ever before", and one surgeon had to be flown by helicopter from the Royal Devon and Exeter hospital to help with emergency surgery. He said all the injured people at the hospital had been treated and none were in a critical condition. He added: "Everyone is stable."

Yeovil district hospital said it had dealt with 26 "walking wounded" and had discharged 24 of them by Saturday morning.

"It was a very busy night for us and our staff did really well," said a spokesman.

Paul Slaven, a spokesperson for Devon and Somerset fire service, said the crash was "the worst road traffic collision anyone can remember". He added: "There hasn't been an incident on this magnitude in Somerset for many years. Many of our firefighters haven't experienced anything like this before.

"There is a large amount of debris covering the road and a couple of vehicles are still smouldering after being on fire so the police have said the road will be closed for at least 24 hours and possibly more for the carriageway to be cleared."

Local MP Jeremy Browne, said the "scale of the carnage" was "devastating" and the accident had left the Taunton community "numb".

He said he could not speculate on the cause of the crash but that the stretch of road was very familiar to local people and although "it didn't involve any twist and turns, it does get foggy".

Conditions last night were dangerous, he said. It was raining and even when the rain stopped the air was "heavy with mist".

"They were the sort of conditions where you can go through a clear patch and the next minute you are in deep fog," said the Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton Deane.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said the only comparable incident was a major crash along a stretch of the M4 near Hungerford in March 1991. It left 10 people dead and a further 25 injured and involved 51 cars.

That accident happened in heavy fog during morning rush hour after a van skidded into the central barrier of the eastbound carriageway.

Sam Jones, 22, from Wedmore, Somerset was travelling home from Plymouth when the crash happened.

He said he tried to help the trapped motorists but could not get close enough because of the extreme heat coming from the wreckages.

He said: "I was about seven cars behind and had to do an emergency stop to avoid it. I suddenly saw these cars weren't moving. I got out of my car to try and help but it was too dangerous. There were lots of explosions and it was too hot to get close to the lorries involved.

"It was scary and it was not until later that I realised there were more cars in front of the lorries. If I was 30 seconds earlier it would have been me.

"The emergency services were fantastic. They arrived on the scene within 10 minutes and kept the situation under control."

Bev Davis, who had been in a field near the motorway looking after her horses, said: "There was this horrific sound of a horn. The horn was just permanent.

"You knew something had gone on and then the flames were just so high so quickly and the noise was horrific. And then there were explosions, I think probably of tyres going.

"From where we were standing we could only see what was directly in front of us because the flames and smoke were smothering everything."

Jon Adair, who passed the crash while travelling southbound, added: "We could feel the heat from inside our car on the other side of the road.

"There were injured people lying on the road and emergency services arriving."

Dunno if this really belongs here or in Off-Topic, but this is just unbelievable, especially since none of the vehicles involved seem to have been carrying flammable chemicals. Without wishing to sound paranoid, I think there's more to this than a tragic accident.

[Zaune]

Update: Just found some video footage from Channel 4 News.

[Broomstick]

Dunno if this really belongs here or in Off-Topic, but this is just unbelievable, especially since none of the vehicles involved seem to have been carrying flammable chemicals. Without wishing to sound paranoid, I think there's more to this than a tragic accident.

All petrol-powered vehicles carry flammable chemicals. If the fuel didn't burn it wouldn't be fuel. I don't say that to nitpick or be callous, just to point out that ruptured fuel tanks can create fireballs and the like. One a fuel tank catches fire the vehicle will, indeed, be "incinerated" and may well set others nearby alight.

That said - it's a tragedy and I'm sorry for all those touched by it.

[Zaune]

All petrol-powered vehicles carry flammable chemicals. If the fuel didn't burn it wouldn't be fuel. I don't say that to nitpick or be callous, just to point out that ruptured fuel tanks can create fireballs and the like. One a fuel tank catches fire the vehicle will, indeed, be "incinerated" and may well set others nearby alight.

That said - it's a tragedy and I'm sorry for all those touched by it.

Good point, and I could have phrased that better. Still, as the senior cop on scene pointed out, the fireball was unusually intense. Not that 30+ vehicle pileups are all that common either, of course.

[Broomstick]

There could have been a truck with cargo that we don't normally think of as particuarly flammable but which might be under certain conditions. Cooking oil, for example, or butter, or flour.... quite a few products, actually.

I'm sure there will be an investigation and we'll find out more in time.

[Dave]

There could have been a truck with cargo that we don't normally think of as particuarly flammable but which might be under certain conditions. Cooking oil, for example, or butter, or flour.... quite a few products, actually.

I'm sure there will be an investigation and we'll find out more in time.

That's what I would guess, one of the trucks in the middle of the video there strikes me as having been burned. Then again, many trucks carry their fuel in exterior tanks on the side of a cab; clip one of those at speed and I would think you could easily make a flaming mess.

Question: don't a higher percent of European vehicles use diesel? Almost all American cars run on gasoline (trucks mostly on diesel) but what percentage of European cars use diesel?

[Zaune]

That's what I would guess, one of the trucks in the middle of the video there strikes me as having been burned. Then again, many trucks carry their fuel in exterior tanks on the side of a cab; clip one of those at speed and I would think you could easily make a flaming mess.

That was my guess as well. It might have been an old wooden-bodied trailer, actually; I remember seeing one or two of them when I was working on a loading dock, and I think there's still a few on the roads.

Question: don't a higher percent of European vehicles use diesel? Almost all American cars run on gasoline (trucks mostly on diesel) but what percentage of European cars use diesel?

Getting on for half as of 2007. With modern engine technology the difference in performance is negligible, and I think it's slightly cheaper than unleaded at the moment.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Diesel is more expensive per litre, by at least 2p in most places I have seen, but every diesel car I've ever been in gets a good 5-10 mpg more than the equivalent petrol powered model. AFAIK it pretty much evens out.

[Atlan]

There could have been a truck with cargo that we don't normally think of as particuarly flammable but which might be under certain conditions. Cooking oil, for example, or butter, or flour.... quite a few products, actually.

I'm sure there will be an investigation and we'll find out more in time.

Or metal.

Firefighters have an intense dislike of new sportscars that have caught fire, as a lot of these run around of magnesium alloy wheels. Those things BURN like nobody's business, and unless you absolutely FLOOD them with water you'll only make the fire worse, as the magnesium burns so hot that water disassociates into oxygen and hydrogen...
Fun times, as a friend of mine found out when they were milling alloys at the place where he worked.
Imagine a truckload of those on fire.

[Broomstick]

Carbon composites - which are becoming more common in vehicles - also burn very nicely.

[madd0ct0r]

as will icecream, eventually.

[Sea Skimmer]

Looks like the new cause theory is that a smoke cloud from a fireworks display drifted across the road, making an existing fog complete darkness.

[Zaune]

Looks like the new cause theory is that a smoke cloud from a fireworks display drifted across the road, making an existing fog complete darkness.

Already being disputed. The display wasn't especially long or elaborate, there was no accompanying bonfire and they wrapped up ten minutes before the crash.

[weemadando]

Looks like the new cause theory is that a smoke cloud from a fireworks display drifted across the road, making an existing fog complete darkness.

Incorrect. Idiots who don't alter their driving to suit conditions would have caused a crash in that scenario.