Bath tipper truck crash kills child and three adults Published duration 9 February 2015

image copyright Getty Images image caption Police said the truck, carrying aggregate, crashed as it travelled down the hill

A child and three adults have been killed in a crash involving a tipper truck that hit cars and two pedestrians as it travelled down a hill in Bath.

The truck struck "a number of vehicles" as it came down Lansdown Lane in Upper Weston, police said.

Three people in a car and a young girl who was on foot died in the incident.

Four others were seriously injured, with one in a critical condition. The lorry driver was also taken to hospital.

The BBC's Jon Kay said the truck reportedly sounded its horn repeatedly "like a warning" as it came down the hill.

Police said early witness accounts "suggest the driver was trying to avert an accident".

Ch Supt Caroline Peters, of Avon and Somerset Police, described the scene as "one of carnage".

'Walking wounded'

"We have a collision team of investigators who are trying to assess the cause of this accident and we are working very closely with the fire service and South West Ambulance," she said.

image copyright Peter Fletcher / Bath Chronicle

A spokeswoman for South Western Ambulance Service said a patient taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol by air ambulance was in a critical condition.

BBC reporter Andy Howard, at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, said a spokesperson had confirmed two men and a woman had been admitted to the hospital with "multiple" but "not life-threatening" injuries following the crash, which happened shortly after 16:00 GMT.

Two of the casualties were being kept in overnight as a precaution, but the third had been discharged, he added.

Further casualties with less serious injuries received treatment from paramedics at a nearby school.

image copyright PA

"They are walking wounded," the ambulance spokeswoman said.

'Tragic and awful'

Reporting from the scene, BBC reporter Ali Vowles said: "Where the truck came down was just past the entrance to All Saints Primary school and it was coming down around 16:00 - so it was pick up time.

media caption Ch Supt Caroline Peters from Avon and Somerset Police says the crash happened at a busy time of day

"Lansdown Hill is a really steep hill. It would be very difficult if you, for whatever reason, lost control of a vehicle."

Don Foster, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said the community was "in shock".

"It is a road where we have put speed limits in and flashing lights because it is quite a steep hill coming down," he said.

"We are still waiting to get more details as to what the cause was. It is obviously devastating, tragic and awful, but until we know more we cannot speculate."

image copyright PA

image copyright Chris Lucas image caption Air ambulances took some of the casualties to hospital

Police said the truck, which was carrying aggregate, crashed as it travelled down the hill.

"Casualties are being taken to the Royal United Hospital in Bath and Southmead Hospital in Bristol," a force spokesman said.

"We're working with South Western Ambulance Service and Avon Fire and Rescue Service at the scene.

"The area is closed off to allow for investigative work to take place."

Bath and North East Somerset Council said nearby Weston All Saints Primary school would be closed on Tuesday.

Police said Lansdown Lane was expected to remain closed for most of the night as collision investigators carry out a detailed examination.