Five individuals killed in horror M6 crash

A horror motorway crash in which five people died – two of them children – was caused when a Skoda travelling in the wrong direction smashed head-on into a car coming the other way, police revealed today.

Officers were contacted at 4.04pm yesterday following reports that the Skoda was travelling southbound on the northbound carriageway of the M6 in Cumbria.

Police were en route to the motorway when tragically further calls were received that it had been involved in a head-on collision with a Toyota, they revealed today.

The driver of the Skoda, a 40-year-old man from Cambridgeshire, was pronounced dead at the scene near Tebay Services.

Five people including two children have been killed in a horrific motorway crash with a third youngster rushed to hospital. This image is taken by a driver on the road as smoke can be seen billowing from the crash site

A witness described the huge emergency service response to the scene saying there was ‘lots of black smoke’

A 42-year-old man who was driving the Toyota was also pronounced dead along with a 33-year-old woman and two boys aged 15 and 7 who were travelling in the same car, all from Glasgow.

A boy aged seven and also from Glasgow who was in the Toyota was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he today remains in a serious condition, police said.

Formal identification of those involved has not yet taken place but the families of those involved are being supported by specially trained officers.

Cumbria Police today thanked members of the public that assisted at the scene and those affected by the collision for their patience while the motorway was temporarily closed.

A spokesman said: ‘We would also like to thank those that have already been in touch who witnessed or have dashcam of the incident, we continue the appeal to anyone with information or with dashcam to contacts us.’

The motorway was closed for nearly 12 hours overnight but reopened in the early hours of this morning. 

This picture (taken by a traffic camera) shows the traffic build up following the collision on the M6 Northbound 

One of the traffic cameras on the M6 shows where traffic was being directed towards Kendal. The road re-opened in the early hours of this morning

Pictures shared by drivers on the road show long traffic jams leading up to the crash site where grey smoke can be seen billowing into the air.

A witness described the huge emergency service response to the scene, saying there was ‘lots of black smoke’. 

A National Highways spokesperson confirmed: ‘The incident happened just after 4pm yesterday afternoon on the M6 between junction 38 and junction 39. The Air Ambulance did attend. 

‘As did NWAS, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, Cumbria Police and National Highways traffic officers. 

‘The northbound M6 was closed from junction 36 for diversion purposes. The northbound carriageway re-opened shortly before 4am this morning.’   

Local resident, Chris Isles, said he was around ’50 yards’ away from the accident on Tuesday and saw black smoke and flames.

The 58-year-old from Kirkoswald, near Penrith in Cumbria, said: ‘From where I was, 50 yards further back, it just seemed like a vehicle fire.

‘I was parked up and I could see the smoke. It hadn’t really happened that long. I literally must have been two minutes behind it happening.

‘I got out of my (campervan) and just looked down the line and between the lines of vehicles in front of me, I could see there was quite a big fire that started.

‘This was at 10 past four. Less than 20 minutes later the air ambulance was there.’

Mr Isles, who captured a photo of smoke billowing into the sky, was driving home and was expected to take only seven minutes to drive from junction 38 to 39, but said he was stuck in ‘standstill’ traffic for around three and a half hours.

‘I was up near the front. They seemed to have turned everybody back from the back of the queue forward,’ said Mr Isles, who is a publican.

‘So where we were, we were probably some of the last people to get off. It was about half past seven when we eventually got moved.’

He said he feels ‘really shocked’ at the incident and is ‘thinking of the family of everybody’.

‘It’s terrible. It never crossed my mind that there would have been five people killed. It’s awful,’ he said.

A spokesperson for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said four fire engines from Penrith, Kendal and Shap were dispatched to the scene.

Crews stayed at the crash site for ‘several hours’ and used ‘two breathing apparatus and a hose reel jet’ in their rescue efforts.

Writing on X shortly after the crash a witness said: ‘Something serious happening on the M6 northbound, just passed Tebay services. 

‘Loads of blue lights going up the hard shoulder can see lots of black smoke and looks like the air ambulance has just come in as well. I really do hope everyone’s ok’.