Police are investigating why a loaded tipper truck apparently careered out of control on a steep hill in Bath, claiming the lives of a young girl and three adults.
The truck has been taken away for forensic examination and the road remained closed as officers continued to try to establish the cause of the accident on Monday, in which five other people including the driver were hurt.
Police said the lorry collided with pedestrians and cars as it travelled “at speed” down the hill close to a primary school as parents and children milled around outside.
People who live near the scene described hearing the frantic honking of a horn just before the crash and police said early eyewitness reports suggest the driver of the 32-tonne lorry lost control after taking evasive action to avoid an earlier accident.
The girl was one of two pedestrians involved in the tragedy. The second pedestrian, understood to be a woman, was airlifted to hospital, where her condition was described as critical. The three others who died were in a car struck by the truck.
Chief Inspector Norman Pascal, of Avon and Somerset police, said on Tuesday morning that investigators had worked through the night to try to establish what caused the crash.
He said the lorry had been examined in situ but was taken away at 5.30am so that further tests could be carried out.
Officers are also waiting to speak to the driver as soon as he is deemed well enough to be interviewed and are appealing for more witnesses.
Pascal described the hill as “very, very steep” and it was cold at the time of the crash. He said it was lucky that most children had already left the area around the school. A special church service is to be held later.
On Monday evening Chief Superintendent Caroline Peters, of Avon and Somerset police, described the scene as “carnage”. She said: “Early reports are [the lorry] was travelling down at speed … it has tried to avoid an accident but in doing so has then collided with two pedestrians.” She said the lorry subsequently hit a number of other vehicles before spilling its load across the road.
The scene of the crash, Lansdown Road in Upper Weston, is known locally as a “rat run”, and campaigners have long campaigned for more safety measures. The road has a vehicle width restriction in parts and police will be investigating where the lorry began its journey – and where it was going.
Police said the accident took place close to Weston All Saints primary just after 4pm on Monday. The school will remain closed on Tuesday.
Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said: “The community is in shock, both for the families of those killed and also those who have been injured.”
Foster said the council had imposed 20mph speed restrictions on parts of the road in order to prevent accidents. “It is a road where we have put speed limits in and flashing lights because it is quite a steep hill coming down,” he said. “There have been attempts by the council over the years to improve safety.”
Councillor Colin Barrett said he had been campaigning for safety on the road for 14 years. “Although we have a 20mph limit here, drivers just don’t adhere to it,” he said.
One 21-year-old woman, who ran outside when she heard the crash, said: “It was a loud rumble and then all of a sudden all you could hear was a lorry beeping constantly and then there was a loud bang and the beeping stopped. I think he was trying to warn people he couldn’t stop. It was a mess. There was someone lying in the road with a blanket over them. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Another resident, who lives on the road, said: “The helicopter has been circling, it’s crazy. It is so horrible. It happened just as all the children were coming out of the school. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
Three people and the lorry driver were taken to the nearby Royal United Hospital in Bath. The person with more serious injuries was taken to by air ambulance to Southmead Hospital in Bristol with serious injuries. Several walking wounded were treated at a makeshift facility at the school.
