Five killed in M25 coach crash

Police were today investigating the cause of a coach crash on the M25 motorway in which five people were killed and 40 injured, two critically.

The coach was travelling northbound between junctions 15 and 16, near Slough in Berkshire, at 11pm yesterday when it veered off the motorway and overturned, landing on its side in a field.

Police, fire and ambulance services were called to the scene and the accident was declared a major incident. Three lanes of the four-lane section of motorway northbound were closed.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said 41 passengers and two drivers were on board the coach which was travelling from France to the Worcester area.

She said: "The coach involved was a private hire vehicle on a cross channel day trip."

Police and the Royal Berkshire Ambulance Service confirmed at least five people died in the accident. Hospital staff said they treated 40 people for injuries as a result of the accident.

Most of those on board are believed to be in their 40s and 50s, though a couple of passengers were said to be in their late teens.

It is not known what caused the accident, but police said no other vehicles were thought to have been involved in the crash.

The injured were taken to either Wexham Park Hospital in Slough or Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, west London.

Of the seven women and five men taken to the Hillingdon Hospital, one woman is described as critically ill. She was undergoing surgery.

Another woman and a man were admitted to the hospital for treatment for serious injuries.

Eighteen women and 10 men were taken to Wexham Park Hospital. Of these one was admitted to the intensive care unit and four were admitted with serious cuts and wounds.

The remainder were walking wounded with minor injuries. They were being treated before being allowed home.

It is not yet known whether the driver of the single decker 57-seater coach at the time of the accident was among the injured.

Chief Fire Officer Jeff Goddard of Buckinghamshire Fire Service said firefighters were involved in removing the bodies of the five dead from the coach.

He said police would launch an investigation into the cause of the accident.

Anxious relatives can call Thames Valley Police on 018 6584 6000, Hillingdon Hospital on 018 9527 9922 and Wexham Park Hospital on 017 5353 9239.