POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING the possibility that fireworks may have caused smoke to drift onto the M5 motorway in Somerset, leading to a multi-vehicle crash that claimed a number of lives.
Seven people have been confirmed dead in the crash – which involved 34 vehicles – while 51 were injured.
Three lorry drivers are believed to have died in the crash, as well as an elderly couple and a father and daughter.
Irish woman Ciara Neno, who was involved in the crash along with her husband, told RTE’s Morning Ireland that it was “nothing short of a miracle” that they had survived unhurt and were “probably the only two that are”.
They had been driving home and reached the motorway when they saw the truck in front of them braking.
The next thing, it disappeared into, we thought, a bank of fog. But it was unlike any other fog that we’d seen before, because it wasn’t milky, it was black.
She said they could hear crashes and thumps around them, and then a huge fire started.
Following extensive investigations, the road has been reopened.
Police have said no more bodies were found in the search, and that they completed removing the vehicles from the scene overnight.
The Telegraph reports that officers investigating the incident are focusing on a fireworks display that took place at Taunton Rugby Club, which is near the motorway.
Although police said there was fog, they believe that smoke was also hanging over the motorway.
Some motorists said their vision had been affected by thick black smoke during the crash.
But organisers of the display said that wind had blown the smoke away from the road, according to The Guardian.
UK comedian Jimmy Carr came under fire after tweeting a joke about a car crash on his official Twitter account at the weekend.
The offending gag was removed after numerous complaints.
Carr apologised, saying the joke was “bad timing”.
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