Fatal crash on the M69
Road was closed until 4.45pm yesterday
ONE person was killed in a motorway smash which closed the M69 for many hours yesterday.
The air ambulance, along with police, paramedics and fire crews all attended the scene on the northbound carriageway between junction 1 for Hinckley and junction 2 for Sapcote at around 10am.
Leicestershire Police said three vehicles, a white transit van, a black BMW 1 Series and a breakdown recovery truck were involved in the smash.
A 42-year-old man, the driver of the recovery truck, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the van sustained serious injuries and was taken to the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire where he remains in a stable condition.
The driver of the BMW was taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary with minor injuries.
Detective Sergeant Mark Watling from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit is appealing for anyone who saw any of the vehicles being driven beforehand or the collision itself to get in touch.
He said: “If you saw anything that you believe could assist with our enquiries and you have not yet spoken to police we’d like to hear from you.
“If you were travelling along the M69 in either direction and have information about the collision please call us.”
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said one person had to be cut free from a vehicle.
A picture from the scene posted by Twitter user Alex Styles showed a transit van on top of the car transporter which appeared to have lost its cabin.
At the time of going to press the northbound carriageway remained closed as police collision investigation officers examined the scene. The southbound M69 reopened in the middle of yesterday afternoon.
A spokesman for East Midlands Ambulance Service said: “We received the 999 call today at 10.01am reporting an incident between J1-J2 M69.
“Using the information given by the caller, the incident was recorded as a road traffic collision.
“Our Emergency Operations Centre sent two ambulance crews, an ambulance car, the air ambulance, as well as a doctor from the East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme (EMICs).
“Our ambulance crews took patients to University Hospital Coventry.”
Diversions were set up directing northbound traffic along the A5 to join the M1 at junction 20 while southbound traffic was forced to leave the M1 at junction 21 and follow the A5 to Hinckley and onto the M69 at junction 1.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Leicestershire Police on 101 quoting incident 211 of 10 October.