Father and teenage son among three killed in horror crash

A TEENAGE boy and his father have been killed in a horrific car crash which left his mother and nine-year-old sister fighting for their lives.

The crash on a bridge in East Yorkshire on Saturday afternoon also killed Sheila Stavert-Lee, 70, from Wigginton, near York.

Ethan Saraar, 14, from Birmingham, was a passenger in the VW Golf which his 47-year-old father, Derek, was driving. The boy’s 44-year-old mother and nine-year-old sister were passengers in the car.

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An investigation has been launched after the crash, which took place on a remote stretch of the A614 near East Cowick, at 1.30pm on Saturday, April 7.

Debbie Hinchliffe, the first person to arrive at the scene, yesterday described her frantic attempts to help the injured.

Mrs Hinchliffe, who lives about 50 metres from the bridge, said she ran to the cars to find children screaming and an elderly woman unconscious.

“It was a shock – the severity of it,” she said. “I was stood at my gate and I heard the crash. I ran to the scene.

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“The old lady was unconscious and kids were screaming in the back of the other car.

“I couldn’t get anybody out. The car was going to set on fire with the old lady in.

“So I got in the car with her to turn the ignition off. I released her seatbelt and just stuck with her.”

Mrs Hinchliffe said the crash involved a Volvo driven by the elderly woman, who later died, and a Volkswagen.

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She said there were people in the back of the VW, including the children who were screaming.

Mrs Hinchliffe said the elderly woman’s daughter was following her mother in another car and came across the scene. They were travelling to Doncaster from the York area, she believed.

She said she tried to get the children out of the back of the VW but the doors were stuck.

Then other people began to arrive and managed to free them.

Mrs Hinchliffe said she took the woman’s daughter to her house and police arrived later to inform them she had died.

She said: “I’m just sorry that I couldn’t have done more.”

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The crash prompted a massive response, with three ambulances, two paramedic rapid response vehicles and two air ambulances joining police and firefighters.

Humberside Police confirmed both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene, along with the teenage boy.

His sister and mother were taken by the helicopters to Leeds General Infirmary, 30 miles away.

Officers said they had “life-threatening” injuries.

The crash occurred where the road crosses the Aire and Calder Navigation canal and Dutch River, which run parallel to each other.

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People living in the area said the A614 between East Cowick and Goole is long and straight, which encourages some motorists to travel along it at speed.

The road was closed for several hours as officers conducted a detailed investigation of the scene.

Insp John Lawson, of Humberside Police, said: “Police are requesting that any witnesses to the collision or that had travelled over the bridge at the time of the collision to contact Humberside Police.”

Meanwhile, South Yorkshire Police are investigating a crash in Rotherham on Friday, which left a teenager with “life-threatening” injuries.

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At 11.30pm that night, a blue Audi A3 was travelling on Wickersley Road when the driver apparently lost control and crashed into a telegraph pole, before the car overturned.

An 18-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Audi, is seriously injured in hospital.

The driver, 19, and a 15-year-old passenger, both from Broom, received minor injuries.