Five die in tunnel crash

Police were today warning rush-hour motorists to avoid a major commuter route following a car crash in which five men died.

Police were today warning rush-hour motorists to avoid a major commuter route following a car crash in which five men died.

The dead were among six people travelling in the same car which hit a lamp post close to the entrance of the Limehouse link tunnel in east London last night.

Police said the vehicle was split in two by the force of the crash, with halves of the car ending up in separate carriageways.

The road, which serves east London including the City and Canary Wharf, will remain closed "for several hours".

A police spokeswoman confirmed that all six people in the silver Honda Prelude were Asian males in their early 20s.

Four were pronounced dead at the scene and the fifth died at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

A sixth man, who was cut from the wreckage by London Fire Brigade, was said to be in a "critical condition" at the same hospital.

Police said the car was travelling along Aspen Way when it was in collision with a lamp post about 20 yards from the entrance of the city-bound tunnel at 11.45pm.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.

The road to the Limehouse Link Tunnel was re-opened at 7.50am, said AA Roadwatch.

At 8.30am the two carriageways of the Limehouse Tunnel were said to be moving freely, but the nearby A13 - used as a alternative route - was suffering heavy traffic.

* A 15-year-old boy was today critical in hospital after he was flung off the roof of a vehicle while "car surfing".

Police said the teenager was riding on top of a friend's Ford Escort when the driver suddenly reversed - throwing him to the ground.

He suffered serious head injuries and was taken to Sheffield Children's Hospital, where he is in intensive care.

Officers for the South Yorkshire force said car surfing, a pastime where people ride on top of moving cars for kicks, was highly dangerous and warned the accident was a graphic example of what could happen.

A police spokesman said the accident happened on the Meadows Industrial Estate in Swinton, South Yorkshire, last night.