Man quizzed after M4 death crash

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Police have made an arrest after a head-on collision on the M4 involving a car going the wrong way left one man dead and three people injured.

Two of those hurt were seriously injured in Saturday's crash between a Volvo and Ford Escort near Port Talbot.

South Wales Police are questioning a man as they investigate how the car was heading west on the eastbound side.

It came 12 days after five people died when a car went the wrong way on the same motorway 40 miles away in Newport.

The Newport crash on 17 September involved a car which had earlier been pursued by Gwent Police. South Wales Police said there was no police involvement before Saturday's collision.

Saturday's crash was at about 1650 BST between junctions 40 and 41.

Our inquiries are ongoing into how the vehicle appears to have been travelling the wrong way down the eastbound carriageway South Wales Police

The motorway was closed in both directions for a number of hours while the casualties were taken to hospital.

Insp Gary Smart of South Wales Police said there were three people in one vehicle, but would not say which one until the families have been informed.

The ambulance service said two other people had also been involved. One was uninjured and the other suffered less serious injuries.

Firefighters had to cut all five out of the vehicles. Those injured were taken to Morriston Hospital, Swansea, by both air and road ambulances.

A police spokesman said: "Our inquiries are ongoing into how the vehicle appears to have been travelling the wrong way down the eastbound carriageway.

"A man is helping us with our inquiries in relation to this incident."

The crash in the early hours of Monday, 17 September involved a Ford Mondeo which drove the wrong way on to the M4 at Newport after being pursued by Gwent Police. Police stopped pursuing the Mondeo when it went onto the motorway.

It hit a Volvo 940, killing the occupants, Bridget Stafford, 70, and her husband James, 69, of Thornton Heath, Surrey.

Three Newport men in the Mondeo also died: Lee Maggs, 26, Christopher Beresford, 18, and Sam Case, 19. A fourth man in the Mondeo survived.

A South Wales Police spokesman said of Saturday's crash: "Police are able to confirm that there was no police pursuit or involvement in this serious incident prior to the collision.

"The exact circumstances of the collision are still being investigated."

Anyone who witnessed the collision or the movements of either vehicles prior to the incident, is asked to contact South Wales Police Roads Policing Unit on 029 2057 1600.