Three die on same motorway nine hours apart

Three people have died in two crashes just hours apart on the same Scottish motorway.

The incidents happened around six miles from each other on the A74 (M) in Dumfries and Galloway on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning.

A 57-year-old man driving a van and his 17-year-old male passenger were pronounced dead at the scene of the most recent incident, near Kirkpatrick-fleming.

The vehicle was involved in a crash with an articulated lorry on the northbound carriageway between junctions 20 and 21 around 6:15am yesterday.

A man has meanwhile died and three teenagers were taken to hospital with serious injuries following an incident on the road around nine hours earlier.

Craig Mclaren was driving a Ford Fiesta that crashed on the southbound carriageway, near Ecclefechan, shortly after 9pm on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old, who was a serving soldier in the British Army, was pronounced dead at the scene.

An 18-year-old man in the car was taken to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Two female passengers, aged 16 and 19, were taken to Dumfriesand galloway royal infirmary.

Their injuries are described as being serious, but not lifethreatening.