A huge staged crash on the M62, involving an old bus, two lorries, eight cars, and a motorbike, saw 100 emergency services workers flood the area.
In one of the ‘biggest ever’ motorway exercises, around 80 volunteers took on the role of injured passengers and drivers in the staged multiple-casualty accident on Saturday.
The M62 was closed for 12 hours, at a time when the motorway was already due to be closed for upgrade work.
A smashed up coach was brought onto the stretch of the motorway near the M60 junction at Eccles.
Two junctions further down, work was taking place near Warrington for the new SMART motorway, closing the carriageway completely, reports the M.E.N.
Members of St Joseph’s Players in Leigh and the Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service and Casualties Union were painted with fake blood and wounds to make it as realistic as possible.
They were then cut free by firefighters from both Greater Manchester and Cheshire and 'treated' at the scene by paramedics from the North West Ambulance Service.
Bosses said the exercise, one of the biggest of its kind ever carried out, was vital for helping them refresh and hone their skills for other similar major incidents which may occur in real life.
Chris Evans, station manager at Chadderton fire station and the exercise director said: "Last night's exercise was the culmination of months of meticulous planning, all designed to ensure that should an incident of this type and scale occur on our motorway network.
"We can all respond as efficiently and as effectively as possible to provide the public with a first class service.
“It’s not just the obvious ‘blue light’ services of the Police Fire and Ambulance Service involved in an emergency response to an incident such as this.
"It’s also the Highways Agency Traffic Officers and the recovery companies too who between us all play a specific role in safely managing an incident, helping to provide the best outcomes for any casualties and also to ensure that the motorway infrastructure can re-open as quickly as possible to reduce disruption to other road users."
The stretch of the M62 between the M6 and the M60 is used by around 120,000 vehicles every day.
