4 held over M62 death crash

Mar 28 2008 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

FOUR men have been arrested after a man was killed in a motorway crash.

The victim was a passenger in a VW Golf car which was in collision with a lorry on the westbound carriageway of the M62 close to junction 25 at Brighouse.

Another car, a white Toyota, stopped at the scene near Hartshead Moor services at 11.40pm last night – and police revealed this morning that four men who were in that car were arrested.

Two men were trapped in the mangled wreckage of the blue VW Golf.

Firefighters from Odsal and Cleckheaton were sent out to free them, but the passenger was declared dead at the scene.

A West Yorkshire Police spokes- woman said today: “The driver of that vehicle sustained serious injuries and was transported to Calderdale Royal Hospital for treatment where he is currently in a serious condition.’’

She added: “A third vehicle, a white Toyota, stopped at the scene too and may have been involved in the incident. No one was injured in this vehicle.

“However, the four male occupants have been arrested in connection with the matter and are currently being spoken to by officers.’’

The arrested men are also thought to be from Bradford.

There are no details at all about the dead man or the badly injured driver.

Now police want to speak to anyone who may have seen the blue Golf or the white Toyota being driven on the Manchester-bound carriageway just before the tragedy.

The westbound carriageway remained sealed off throughout the night because police wanted to carry out a detailed examination of the scene in daylight.

This would have involved both accident investigation experts and scenes of crime officers, the usual procedure after a fatal incident.

The section of westbound carriageway shut between junction 25 at Clifton near Brighouse and junction 26 at Chain Bar is one of the busiest stretches on the Pennines motorway network.

It brought traffic misery for thousands of other drivers early today with most of them caught up on snarled-up local roads.

The huge traffic jams were across the Brighouse, Mirfield, Heckmondwike and Ravensthorpe areas right into Dewsbury and Batley.

The M621 coming out of Leeds was at a total standstill at 8.30am.

The closure saw drivers diverted off the M62 at Chain Bar on to the A58 towards Wyke.

They were then diverted along the A644 through Bailiff Bridge and Brighouse to rejoin the motorway at Cooper Bridge.

Examiner sports reporter Chris Roberts took an hour to travel nine miles from Batley to Huddersfield town centre.

“The journey usually takes me about 20 minutes,’’ he said. “It was nose to tail all the way.’’

The Leeds-bound carriageway remained open in the aftermath of the tragedy and was said to be running well during the rush hour.

The M62 was fully reopened at 10.30am.

Anyone with information should contact West Yorkshire Police’s Motorway Unit’s witness appeal line on 01924 292915.