Police have ruled there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a woman hit by a car on the M66 .
The woman, who is her in 40s, was struck by Mercedes on the northbound carriageway of the motorway , near junction for two for Bury, at around 2am in the early hours of Thursday.
The woman suffered fatal injuries and was sadly pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
She is yet to be formally identified but her family are being supported by specialist officers, as is the driver, who stopped at the scene.
Initial police reports referred to a a car colliding with a body. However yesterday GMP said it was now unclear if she was killed in the crash, or had died before.
Enquiries to establish exactly what happened to her are ongoing, they said today.
Detectives are combing CCTV and motorway cameras and a post-mortem will be carried out.
However they said they had ruled out any foul play or third party involvement, and a file has been passed to the coroner.
Despite that, they are still urging any potential witnesses, or anyone who may have passed through the area at the time, and who may have dashcam footage, to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Jon Kelly, of GMP’s Bury district, said: “This was a tragic incident and we are doing all we can to support the woman's loved ones at this awful time.
“I would like to reiterate the comments from our colleagues in the Serious Collision Investigation Unit and thank people for their patience whilst investigation work was carried out yesterday as I appreciate the closures caused massive disruption to the surrounding roads.
“Whilst there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, enquiries surrounding the collision remain ongoing and we’d encourage anyone with any information or dash-cam footage to get in touch.”
The motorway was closed for more than 10 hours northbound on Thursday morning with one lane also closed southbound. It caused long delays for commuters until it re-opened at around 12.30pm.
Anyone with information is asked to call GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0161 856 4741 quoting reference number 147 of 02/05/19 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
