Coach-trip shopper and lorry driver die in motorway crash

Coach passenger Delia Walker, 63, from Pontefract, died at the scene along with lorry driver Zdzislaw Piorko, 53, from Maidstone in Kent, following the accident early on Saturday, Essex Police said.

Fifty passengers were on board the coach taking people from Yorkshire to Belgium when the accident happened on the southbound carriageway of the M11 between Saffron Walden and Stansted.

Simon Posner, of the trade association the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK, said the coach had been carrying passengers from the West Yorkshire area who were heading to Folkestone, Kent, en route to Belgium for a shopping trip.

“It was not one group of passengers. Lots of people will have booked a day trip from around West Yorkshire, and the pick up points would have been in Castleford and Wakefield,” he said.

“The great majority of passengers will have been from the West Yorkshire area.”

Karl Edwards, of the East of England Ambulance Service said: “We worked as safely and as quickly as possible to ensure patients were assessed and treated in a timely manner. Sadly, despite all efforts, two people were declared deceased at the scene - our thoughts are with their families at this time.

“There were 49 other patients, whose injuries included neck and back pain, and shock, and other minor injuries consistent with this kind of collision.

“Patients were then taken to hospitals in Cambridge, Harlow and Chelmsford.”

The service said of the casualties, six sustained more serious injuries. Three people injured in the crash remained in hospital, the service said.

Police and the emergency services were called at around 2.20am on Saturday to the accident which happened near Newport, in Essex, causing the usually busy route to be closed in both directions. Traffic was temporarily diverted in both directions as the route was closed between juncton 8, the turn-off for Stansted Airport, and junction 9 at Great Chesterford following the accident while the emergency services worked to help the injured. The route later reopened on both southbound and northbound carriageways.

Essex Police confirmed that a passenger in the coach had died along with the lorry driver. They advised motorists to make alternative plans on Saturday, especially if they were planning to travel to the airport.

Essex Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the road smash and are appealing for any witnesses to get in touch with its roads policing team on 0300 333 4444.

Meanwhile, 14 people have been injured in a collision between a minibus and a car.

The crash took place in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, at about 2.15am yesterday and involved five people in the car and nine people in the minibus.

Firefighters used cutting equipment to free four people trapped in the car at the scene in Bury New Road at the junction with George Street. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said two people suffered severe head injuries. “All the casualties were treated at the scene by trauma technicians and paramedics before being taken to hospital for further examination.”