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| Crush hour: 120-car pile-up on Sheppey bridge in Kent | Crush hour: 120-car pile-up on Sheppey bridge in Kent |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| In dense fog at the start of morning rush hour, eight motorists were seriously injured, 60 less seriously, and hundreds left standing in the road unhurt but terrified near the tangled remains of their cars as more than 120 vehicles ploughed into one another on the Sheppey bridge crossing in Kent. | |
| Witnesses described 10 minutes of eerie mayhem, as they heard crash after crash of vehicles invisible in the fog. Many claimed motorists were approaching the bridge at speed and with no headlamps, and some who realised something was wrong stopped but were then struck by more vehicles piling into the scene. Chief Inspector Andy Reeves, of Kent police, said it was "remarkable" that nobody was killed. | |
| The chaos began around 7.15am, but witnesses said cars were still piling into one another long after the police and the first emergency vehicles reached the scene. Kent police said there were separate major collisions at the 35-metre summit of the four-lane bridge, and on the Sheppey side of the approach. | The chaos began around 7.15am, but witnesses said cars were still piling into one another long after the police and the first emergency vehicles reached the scene. Kent police said there were separate major collisions at the 35-metre summit of the four-lane bridge, and on the Sheppey side of the approach. |
| As hot sun burned off the fog, scores of cars, lorries and a car transporter were revealed tangled together, completely blocking the carriageway. Emergency workers used cutting equipment to free many motorists, and a fleet of ambulances took more than 30 injured to local hospitals, while dozens more were treated for cuts and bruises and shock at the scene. | |
| There were reports that an unidentified lorry driver may have saved lives by turning his vehicle and blocking the approach to the bridge. Chris Buckingham, a motorist at the scene, told Sky News the lorry driver, who was heading to Sheppey, saw what was happening on the opposite carriageway, and turned back at the roundabout when he got off the bridge to block the road towards the scene. | |
| "Whoever that guy is I'd like to shake his hand because he's probably saved lives today," Buckingham said. | |
| Martin Stammers, whose photographs of mangled cars piled on top of each other went round the world, told Kent Online some were "driving like idiots". He managed to stop clear of the chaos and with his son James began to flag down and stop other motorists. | Martin Stammers, whose photographs of mangled cars piled on top of each other went round the world, told Kent Online some were "driving like idiots". He managed to stop clear of the chaos and with his son James began to flag down and stop other motorists. |
| "All you could hear was cars crashing. We got out of our car and it was eerily quiet with visibility down to just 20 yards. It was all you could hear for about 10 minutes – crash after crash after crash … Then you would hear the screeching of brakes and then a thud. The whole top of the bridge is full of mangled cars and lorries. There are cars with their roofs ripped off – one is 5ft in the air. There were a lot of people trapped." | "All you could hear was cars crashing. We got out of our car and it was eerily quiet with visibility down to just 20 yards. It was all you could hear for about 10 minutes – crash after crash after crash … Then you would hear the screeching of brakes and then a thud. The whole top of the bridge is full of mangled cars and lorries. There are cars with their roofs ripped off – one is 5ft in the air. There were a lot of people trapped." |
| David Ingram, who was warned by motorists coming from the opposite direction flashing headlamps, described it as "carnage," adding: "The fog was very, very thick today. You could not see a vehicle in front of you as you came on to the bridge." | David Ingram, who was warned by motorists coming from the opposite direction flashing headlamps, described it as "carnage," adding: "The fog was very, very thick today. You could not see a vehicle in front of you as you came on to the bridge." |
| Dave Green, from Sheerness, whose car hit the central reservation, went to the aid of a motorcyclist he saw thrown into the air and sliding down a car windscreen on to the road, as he hit a car which was braking hard. He helped the man to the side of the road, and then continued to try to help people trapped in their cars. "Nothing is wrong with me, I just feel guilty – there are people worse off than me." Jaime Emmett, a student, was trapped for a time in her car but uninjured. "All I could hear was the cars smashing in front of each other and I could not know how far ahead the accident was. It was so foggy I could literally see two or three cars in front of me – that was it. Then I could literally see smashed cars everywhere and a lorry had smashed into the central reservation as well." | Dave Green, from Sheerness, whose car hit the central reservation, went to the aid of a motorcyclist he saw thrown into the air and sliding down a car windscreen on to the road, as he hit a car which was braking hard. He helped the man to the side of the road, and then continued to try to help people trapped in their cars. "Nothing is wrong with me, I just feel guilty – there are people worse off than me." Jaime Emmett, a student, was trapped for a time in her car but uninjured. "All I could hear was the cars smashing in front of each other and I could not know how far ahead the accident was. It was so foggy I could literally see two or three cars in front of me – that was it. Then I could literally see smashed cars everywhere and a lorry had smashed into the central reservation as well." |
| Edmund King, president of the AA, pointed out that the bridge has no matrix warning signs to alert drivers of trouble ahead. However, having been tailgated in dense fog himself, he said the probable cause of the accident was "stupid driving". | Edmund King, president of the AA, pointed out that the bridge has no matrix warning signs to alert drivers of trouble ahead. However, having been tailgated in dense fog himself, he said the probable cause of the accident was "stupid driving". |
| "It's really bad to travel too close to the car in front in good conditions and if you do it in foggy conditions it's an absolute recipe for disaster." | "It's really bad to travel too close to the car in front in good conditions and if you do it in foggy conditions it's an absolute recipe for disaster." |
| When the £100m bridge opened in 2006, Kent police and others had concerns about the design, but the Highways Agency insisted it was safe. Local MP Gordon Henderson said he had raised safety concerns about lighting on the bridge, and would do so again. "Today my concerns must rest solely with the people that have been injured on the bridge." | |
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