Student killed in road smash while on gap-year visit to US

Patrick Munsie, 18, was killed instantly as he travelled to Denver in a seven-seater hire van on Thursday evening. Two others were killed and another four were injured, including two British nationals.

The van failed to stop at a major road junction and was hit by a fully loaded lorry.

The teenager, from Hebden Bridge, who was educated at Calder High School, in Mytholmroyd, was due to begin a law degree at university in Kingston, London, next year.

Leonora Rustamova, an ex-Calder High English teacher, said it was a tragic loss for his family and "for the whole species". "He was a very bright lad, a legend. You don't get many kids of that calibre and that decent.''