Brothers in ‘wedding’ crash named

Adnan Habib, 10, and Mohammed Arsalaan Habib, four, died after the car they were travelling in crashed and overturned on the M6 near Stoke-on-Trent.

A 32-year-old woman passenger who was in the car also died in the accident.

She was named by Staffordshire Police as Bushra Tazarib.

Officers did not however reveal any details of her relationship with the boys.

All three were from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and had been travelling north on the M6 to attend a family wedding in Greater Manchester, Staffordshire Police said.

The boys’ mother – who was driving the red Ford Focus – and a female relative who was a fellow passenger were both injured, and were taken to hospital.

They were yesterday discharged from the University of North Staffordshire Hospital, and were on their way home, police said.

Chief Superintendent Martin Evans, of the central motorway police group, described the incident as “unimaginably sad and tragic”.

“The thoughts of all officers and emergency services colleagues involved are with the bereaved families at this extremely difficult time and specially-trained family liaison officers have been appointed to support them,” he added.

Officers have also issued an appeal for more information to try and piece together what might have caused the accident, which is believed to have only involved one vehicle.

The incident’s severity led police to close the motorway in both directions for three hours – from junction 14 at Stafford to junction 15 at Stoke-on-Trent – on Christmas Day.

At the crash scene, medics were supported by two air ambulances, and colleagues from the fire service and police.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Crews arrived to find a single vehicle that had crashed and overturned.

“Two children and an adult that were travelling in the vehicle suffered serious injuries.

“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of ambulance crews, nothing could be done to save the two boys and one woman, and they were confirmed dead at the scene.

“Two other women travelling in the car, both received emergency treatment at the scene for their injuries and were transferred by land ambulances to University Hospital North Staffordshire on blue lights for further treatment.”

The spokesman added: “All emergency services personnel worked seamlessly together at the scene in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

“Unfortunately, the outcome was not the one everyone would have hoped for.”

In an another accident yesterday, seven-year-old twins were flown to hospital following a serious crash involving four cars near the border between Cleveland and North Yorkshire.

The collision happened on the A174 near Yearby, outside Redcar, at 10.15am, Cleveland Police said yesterday.

A boy and a girl were flown to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, only five minutes away from the scene, in two helicopters.

The boy was seriously ill having suffered head and leg injuries.

Last night, the condition of his sister was still not clear.

Officers revealed that one of the four vehicles involved had ended up on its roof.

Cleveland Police later said a “number of other casualties” were taken by paramedics to the same hospital.

The A174 was closed in both directions and remained shut for a number of hours as police investigations and a recovery operation were mounted.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service said it treated the boy at the scene before flying him to hospital. A spokesman said the girl was flown to the same hospital in the police helicopter.