Five men were killed when a crash sent a transporter carrying army vehicles crashing through the M1's central barrier and into oncoming traffic, an inquest heard today.
Paul Evans, Craig Mears, Daniel Bradley, Wayne Buckley and Chris Green died on the M1, in Leicestershire, in June 2003, after the tractor unit and trailer and a Honda Civic car collided.
Leicester Coroner's Court was told today that the initial crash was on the opposite, northbound carriageway but it caused the transporter to career towards the central reservation.
As it went through the barrier, the army vehicles on its trailer were thrown on to the southbound carriageway.
One of those landed on top of and crushed a Mercedes Sprinter van, killing Mr Evans, 37, and Mr Mears, 33. The pair, both of Great Wyrley, near Cannock, were decorators for the same company and lifelong friends.
Another hit the van in which Mr Bradley, 21, of Melton Mowbray, was a passenger.
Mr Buckley, 44, of Ossett, West Yorkshire, was travelling in a Vauxhall Vivaro van when it was crushed by the transporter's trailer.
Mr Green, 29, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, was driving his Citroen van when it was hit by the jack-knifed transporter's tractor unit.
Asked what the victims could have done to avoid the fatal crashes, forensic collision investigator Martin Bujdoso told the inquest: ''Very little.''
* The inquest continues, see tomorrow's Leicester Mercury for a full report.作者: lemonbunny 时间: 2008-1-29 12:19
Carnage crash shocked witnesses
M1 crash
Witnesses said the tanks were thrown around like toys
The crash which killed five people and brought part of central England to a standstill was described as "carnage" by one eyewitness.
Three transporters were taking armoured vehicles to Catterick in June 2003 but their journey ended in tragedy near junction 19 of the M1 in Leicester.
One of the lorries was struck by a car. The huge vehicle jack-knifed, sending its trailer and three tanks through the central barrier.
Motorist Brian Brooks was travelling just behind.
"I saw a trailer carrying two or three armoured personnel carriers coming towards the southbound traffic, going through the crash barrier and then there was a huge cloud of dust.
"I couldn't even remember hearing a bang it happened so quickly.
"I got out of my vehicle and there was just cars and vans strewn all over the place and all the debris that comes with that."
He added: "The tanks had rolled off. They didn't even look damaged but just crushed everything in their path.
"It was just carnage. That's the right word for it."
Scene of the crash
I just gripped the steering wheel and took the hit
Alan Pretswell, crash survivor
Beryl Boland, from Northampton, described how the force of the crash threw the eight-tonne tanks across the motorway.
"The thing that just really sticks in my mind was the impact of it when it hit the barrier and how these armoured vehicles just bounced off.
"It was surreal to me, like toys being thrown off. It was surreal how they went up in the air and came down like that. It was just horrendous."
Alan Pretswell, who was driving a removal van on the southbound carriageway, told the inquest how his colleague, Daniel Bradley, was killed.
"I saw the Elliot Sargeant vehicle come straight across toward me and I just gripped the steering wheel and took the hit. That's all I could do. I knew I couldn't avoid it."
Traffic chaos
Mr Pretswell was trapped in his seat and it took him a moment to locate Mr Bradley.
He said: "Daniel somehow had ended up in the bed bunk behind. I don't know if he crawled back or was thrown there. I must have been knocked out.
"Daniel didn't speak. I was trying to shout to wake him up, but there was nothing."
The air ambulance team which attended the scene described it as the worst crash they had ever seen.
As well as the dead and injured, the incident blocked part of the M1 used daily by an estimated 150,000 vehicles.
An Automobile Association spokesman said at the time: "It is a bleak scenario. It is effectively bringing the region to a grinding halt.
"The M1 is a key arterial route and once that is in a stranglehold, everything else comes to a halt, like a concertina effect."
Barrier call
England fans travelling to the Euro 2004 qualifier against Slovakia in Middlesbrough were caught up in the huge delays.
Police had to cut sections out of the central reservation to allow drivers to get away from the jams.
The accident also led to calls for the traditional metal central fence to be replaced by more substantial concrete barriers that are common on the continent.
The five men killed were Paul Evans, 37 and Craig Mears, 33, from Great Wyrley, Staffordshire; Daniel Bradley, 21, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire; Wayne Buckley, 44, from Osett, West Yorkshire; and Christopher Green, 29, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
