Two men and a woman, all in their 20s, among at least seven fatalities across UK

At least seven people have been killed across the UK in road traffic collisions over the new year period.

The deaths included three British Airways cabin crew, all in their 20s, killed in a single crash in Surrey on New Year’s Eve and a 19-year-old killed in Derry, Northern Ireland, in another collision. Elsewhere a woman on a mobility scooter in Staffordshire was killed in a suspected hit and run.

In the incident in Surrey, three people died and a fourth was seriously injured in a collision between a lorry and a car at a junction in the village of Stanwell. BA confirmed the victims were members of cabin crew, saying: “We’re deeply saddened to learn of the death of our colleagues involved in a road traffic collision last night. Our thoughts are with their family and friends.”

Emergency services were called shortly after 11.30pm to a crash involving a Mercedes HGV and a Toyota Yaris. The HGV left the road and ended up in Longford River. Two men aged 25 and 23 and a woman aged 20 who were in the Yaris died at the scene. Another 25-year-old woman in the Yaris, who also worked as cabin crew for BA, is in hospital in a serious condition.

The site is close to Heathrow airport. It is believed that all four cabin crew were friends and two of them had finished work at about 6pm, while the others were on a day off and not scheduled to be on duty.

The BA pilot Jai Dillon tweeted: “Thoughts are with the friends and family of the three crew who were tragically taken from us last night while driving home from work to be with their loved ones for new year.”

A crowdfunder set up on Wednesday to raise money for the families of the crew members involved had reached more than £32,000 within six hours of being set up, with more than 2,000 people donating to it.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

The lorry was operated by the air services provider dnata, which offers ground handling, cargo, travel and flight catering services to airlines.

A dnata spokesman said: “We can confirm that one of our trucks was involved in a road traffic accident on the evening of 31 December. We are fully assisting relevant authorities with their investigations.”

Police are investigating several other road deaths across the UK. In the Fallowfield area of Manchester, a 59-year-old man died and five others were injured, four seriously, in a crash between a Skoda Octavia and a Mercedes at 3.30am on New Year’s Day.

Another driver died in the first minutes of New Year’s Day after his BMW crashed into a tree. West Midlands police said the 37-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene in Great Barr, near Walsall, shortly after midnight.

In County Derry, Northern Ireland, a 19-year-old man died following a collision between two Audis shortly after 2.30am on New Year’s Day. A woman and two teenage males were taken to hospital.

A suspect has been arrested in Staffordshire after a 62-year-old woman riding a mobility scooter was killed in a hit-and-run crash on New Year’s Eve. Staffordshire police said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene in Cannock after her scooter was in collision with a car, believed to be a Volkswagen Golf, at about 6.30pm.

A 27-year-old man was arrested in the early hours on New Year’s Day on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.

PA Media contributed to this report