Driver held after multi-vehicle crash leaves four-year-old dead

A MAN has been arrested after a five-vehicle motorway crash which killed a four-year-old girl, police said.

The collision happened at about 12.30am yesterday on the M6 southbound, between junctions 4a and 4, near Birmingham.

A spokesman for the Central Motorway Police Group said the man was arrested at the scene and is in police custody helping officers with their inquiries.

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Seven ambulances, four fire engines, police and the Highways Agency attended the incident and the stretch of road between the two junctions was closed for about six and a half hours.

A spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “Ambulance crews arrived to find a lorry and several cars that had been in a serious crash.

“A child travelling in one car had suffered multiple serious injuries and was receiving CPR from members of the fire service. Ambulance crews and the BASICS Doctor took over resuscitation attempts of the girl and carried out advanced life support at the scene.

“Emergency treatment continued in the ambulance en route to hospital where a trauma team were on standby.

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“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of everyone at the scene, ambulance and hospital staff, nothing could be done to save the girl and she was confirmed dead shortly after arriving at hospital.”

The spokesman added: “A second girl travelling in the same car, believed to be around eight years old, suffered multiple injuries and received emergency treatment at the scene.

“A woman also travelling in the car suffered head injuries.

“Both patients were transferred by ambulances on blue lights and sirens to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, who had been alerted to their arrival.

“A third child travelling in the same car, a girl believed to be around four years old, suffered minor injuries and was also treated at the scene.

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“She was also transferred by ambulance to the same hospital.

“A man travelling in the car was checked over at the scene but was not injured. He travelled into the hospital with the seriously injured woman.”

A man and a woman travelling in a second car received multiple minor injuries and were transferred to Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham. Two other people, a man and a woman who were in a third car involved in the crash, were checked by ambulance crews but did not need hospital treatment.

The male driver of the lorry was uninjured.

Any witness to the collision are urged to contact Central Motorway Police Group on 0121 626 1285.

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A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police later said the man, a 63-year-old from Sunderland, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Police said the four-year-old girl was from Birmingham.

Her family is receiving support from specially trained officers, the spokeswoman added.

The incident happened three weeks after seven people died in a crash on the M5.

The accident on the M5 in Somerset involved 34 vehicles and left some 51 people injured. The pile-up triggered a “massive fireball” on the carriageway.

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A number of articulated lorries were involved in the devastating crash, described by emergency workers as “the worst road traffic collision anyone can remember”.

Firefighters who scrambled about 15 appliances to the scene battled to rescue motorists by cutting people from cars and lorries using hydraulic equipment.

Television footage also showed motorists trying to open vehicle doors in an attempt to rescue those trapped. The pile-up happened close to Taunton Rugby Club, where a fireworks event was taking place.

Police focused their attention on the theory the accident was caused by smoke from the rugby club fireworks event drifting onto the M5.

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Police said witnesses had reported “significant smoke” across the carriageway that was “impossible to drive through”. Taunton Rugby Club said it is “working closely with Avon and Somerset Police to assist with their investigations”.

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