Minibus gets crushed between two trucks on highway

Indians were among the eight persons killed — which included six men and two women — in a major accident in which a minibus got crushed between two trucks on a highway in southern England.

The crash occurred on the southbound M1 highway at Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire in the wee hours of Saturday.

All those who died were travelling in the minibus, which got crushed between the two larger vehicles.

“We are extending all possible assistance to those affected by this tragedy,” the Indian High Commission in London said.

Truck drivers arrested

The two truck drivers arrested from the scene of the accident were charged with causing death by dangerous driving on Sunday in the morning. Thames Valley Police said Ryszard Masierak, 31, and David Wagstaff, 51, had been charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

“Four people who were injured and taken to hospital remain in serious conditions,” Thames Valley Police said in a statement.

The British police is yet to release details of those killed in the crash. The driver of the minibus has been identified as India-born Cyriac Joseph. Joseph, originally from Kerala and based in the U.K. for 15 years, was described as “lovely and generous” by friends.

The others in his minibus were tourists from Chennai who had reportedly hired the vehicle along with family based in Nottingham to travel to London, from where they had plans to go on a tour of Europe.

A five-year-old girl, a woman and a man are being treated in the hospital with life-threatening injuries, while another woman has serious injuries.