- .'Carnage' on new Sheppey crossing bridge on A249 in Kent at 7.15am saw cars and lorries crash into each other
- .Eight people seriously injured and another 200 with minor injuries - but no fatalities after incident this morning
- .Scene was full of buckled cars, lorries and car transporter amid reports some motorists were driving 'like idiots'
- .Local Conservative MP reveals he had concerns about design of bridge's lighting and will talk to the authorities
- .AA chief says crash may have been caused by 'stupid driving' - specifically tailgating and not using fog lights
- .Police say it's 'truly miraculous' that no one was killed in today's pile-up, which saw 33 people taken to hospital
By MARK DUELL
A 100-vehicle pile-up on a bridge in heavy fog today left eight people seriously injured and 200 with minor wounds in what witnesses called ‘carnage’.
The incident on the new Sheppey crossing bridge in Kent started at 7.15am and continued for 10 minutes as cars and lorries crashed into each other.
Nobody is believed to have died in the A249 pile-up which saw visibility drop to just 20 yards, but there were reports of some motorists driving ‘like idiots’.
The scene was full of buckled cars, lorries and even a car transporter as people waited at the side of the road to receive help from emergency services.
Foggy: According to police around 100 vehicles were involved in the pile-up on a bridge in heavy fog, leaving at least eight people seriously injured
Astonishing accident: At the scene on the Sheppey bridge in Kent, motorists caught up in the accident milled around in hot sunshine waiting to get their cars back
From above: Those caught up in crashes were looked after by the emergency services and voluntary organisations who attended, such as the British Red Cross
People were reportedly trapped and 30 ambulances and response vehicles went to the scene, with some casualties receiving treatment at the roadside.
Police admitted this afternoon in a press conference that it was ‘truly miraculous’ no-one was killed in the pile-up, which saw 33 people taken to hospital.
Lives were probably saved after a quick-thinking lorry driver used his truck to block the entrance to the bridge and stop more cars piling into the crash.
Chief Inspector Andy Reeves, from Kent Police, said: ‘From my perspective, it's truly miraculous. It's very fortunate there were no fatalities.’
Witness Martin Stammers, 45, from Minster, told Kent Online: ‘It's horrific. I've never seen anything like it in my life. All you could hear was cars crashing.
'We got out of our car and it was eerily quiet, with visibility down to just 20 yards.’
What remains: The incident on the new Sheppey crossing bridge in Kent started at 7.15am and continued for 10 minutes as cars and lorries crashed into each other
Complete carnage: Witnesses told of the eerie aftermath of the pile-up on the Kent bridge, which happened at around 7.15am this morning
Massive crash: The scene on the London-bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge crossing near Sheerness in Kent following a multi-vehicle collision this morning
Examining the destruction: Emergency services attend the site of a major traffic accident on the A249 Sheppey crossing bridge on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent
Emergency: A huge crash happened on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge Crossing
Huge collision: The aftermath of the pile-up on the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Sheerness in Kent, following a multi-vehicle collision earlier this morning
A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: ‘There are no fatalities but ambulance crews are dealing with a large number of walking wounded.
‘Firefighters have used hydraulic cutting equipment to release five people from their vehicles’.
The injured were being taken to hospitals including Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.
The uninjured and the walking wounded were taken down from the bridge on the Sittingbourne side.
Long distance: This wide-angle photograph shows the collision, which saw the walking wounded taken down from the bridge on the Sittingbourne side
Numbered: The AA said drivers in the Kent accident were likely to be out of pocket as they faced paying the first £200 to £300 in accident claims
Incredible pile-up: The incident on the new Sheppey crossing bridge in Kent started at 7.15am and saw a huge number of injuries after a massive crash
Mammoth effort: Paramedics treated the injured and a firefighter held a baby at the scene of the multi-car pile-up on the Sheppey bridge in Kent today
Distressing: A mother and her child are taken away from the scene of the multi-car pile up on the A249 Isle of Sheppey bridge in Kent
Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey Gordon Henderson said he would be talking to the authorities about the accident.
'CLAIMS FIRM TARGETS VICTIMS'
'Ambulance chasing' tweets claiming to be from an injury claims firm directed at people involved in the Kent crash caused outrage today.
A Twitter profile called 'LAS_UK' posted a message saying: 'Involved in the Sheppey Bridge Collision, we can help, DM us or email lasnewclaims@gmail.com #sheppey'.
However, the Twitter page, which first posted a tweet on June 19, was soon suspended - and an email bounced when sent to the address.
No record of the company was found on Ministry of Justice or Solicitors Regulation Authority databases, and it is believed to either be a fake Twitter account or a scam.
Journalist Rhys Griffiths said: 'Personal injury claims firm @LAS_UK doesn't waste time with this morning's Sheppey Crossing crash.'
He said he had concerns about the design of the bridge's lighting, adding: ‘Today my concerns must rest solely with the people that have been injured.
'Today is not the time to ask questions but later I will be asking questions of the authorities about the accident.
‘I have had concerns in the past, particularly about the level of lighting on the bridge, but, until we understand the cause of the accident, and what was a contributing factor, I do not want to make any further comment.’
Motorists involved could well have been travelling far too close to the vehicle in front and not using their fog lights, added AA president Edmund King.
He added that drivers in the Kent accident were likely to be out of pocket as they faced paying the first £200 to £300 in accident claims.
Mr King went on: ‘I was driving in foggy conditions on the M25 in Hertfordshire today and it was stupid the way people were driving.
'That could well have been the case in the Kent incident today. I had to signal to some guy who was driving just two feet behind me to keep back.
'Many people were not using their fog lights and many were travelling far too close to the vehicle in front.’
Mr Stammers told Sky News: 'As you went further up, there were cars in the air, there were cars under lorries, there were people laying on the floor.
'It was just horrendous. If you were travelling at 30mph you would have still hit the car in front of you because the visibility was down to 10 yards.
'I just can't believe how close... We were five seconds from, I would say, near death. Very, very, very, lucky, I just hope everyone else there is OK.'
'I can't explain how you're standing there in the quiet and all you can hear is this thud and the glass breaking. It's just silence, that's all you can hear - a screech and a thud, a screech and a thud. Horrific, absolutely horrific.'
Grateful: Although there were believed to be eight people seriously injured, there were said to be no fatalities following the crash in Kent today
Paramedics on scene: Around 200 people had minor injuries following the crash near Sheerness in Kent
Helping out: Paramedics treat people on the London-bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge crossing
Why did it happen? Motorists involved could well have been travelling far too close to the vehicle in front and not using their fog lights, said AA president Edmund King
Glass everywhere: The scene of the crash on the new Sheppey bridge on the A249 in Kent which involved more than 100 vehicles and left 200 injured
'Saved lives': A lorry driver who saw the start of the accident used his truck to block the entrance to the bridge and stop more cars piling into the crash, a witness said
Roads Minister Stephen Hammond said: 'I would like to praise the hard work and dedication of all the members of the emergency services who have worked tirelessly helping those injured in this morning's crash.
'The Highways Agency will provide any support required by a Kent Police investigation into the cause of the crash.'
At the scene, motorists caught up in the accident milled around in hot sunshine waiting to get their cars back.
Cliff Montgomery, 53, was driving his Mercedes from his home on the Isle of Sheppey to his job as a project engineering manager at Medway Hospital in Gillingham when he was in a group of vehicles trapped between a pile-up in front of him and another one behind.
He said: ‘I was very lucky not to be involved in it. I was in the outside lane when vehicles in front of me braked and cars were crashing.
Discussion: Dozens and dozens of motorists are addressed by the police about their stranded vehicles after the multi-car crash on the A249 in Kent
Aid: South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was dealing with a major incident and has deployed its hazardous area response teams to the scene
Tough conditions: A satellite image from 7.15am, when the crash occurred in Kent (circled). The fog is extensive in the south-eastern quarter of the UK
‘There was another pile-up behind the group of cars I was travelling in. All I could do was brake, stop and await further instructions.
‘It was very foggy, in places you could only see 30ft in front of you. Cars only need to be going 30 or 40mph for braking distances to become an issue when it's like that.
‘When you see the state of vehicles being brought off the bridge on transporters, you have to think it's very lucky that no one was killed.
‘My car is at the top of the bridge and I'm hoping to get it back mid-afternoon.’
Mr Montgomery had more luck when he heard that his 19-year-old son, who was travelling a few minutes in front of him, saw the first crash, but managed to avoid it, and was able to go on to his job as a trainee engineer in London.
Car transporter: Thick fog causing extreme poor visibility is said to behind the accident, which took place on the bridge at about 7.15am this morning
'Carnage': Hundreds of people have been injured, some seriously, after the pile-up of more than 100 vehicles on the A249 Sheppey crossing in Kent
Reports of injuries: A Kent Police spokesman said visibility was a problem over the bridge this morning
Valentine Elad, a 46-year-old teacher whose car was struck from behind in the crash, told of the eerie aftermath of the pile-ups.
He said: ‘There were cars upside-down on other cars. There was a black four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi upside-down on a small white car, and an Audi upside-down on the bonnet of another car. It was horrible.’
He said the famous sturdiness of his Volvo S40 might have saved him from injury, though he would get himself checked out when he managed to get away from the scene.
‘I think the car is a write-off and someone will have to come and get me,’ he said.
Misty conditions: The crash occurred on the new Sheppey crossing bridge on the A249 in Kent this morning
Wreckage: People were reportedly trapped and 30 ambulances and response vehicles went to the scene, with some casualties receiving treatment at the roadside
Major incident: Motorists were warned to avoid the area around the new Sheppey crossing bridge
‘When I got to the top of the bridge, I saw the brake lights of the cars, and slowed right down then stopped. A car hit me from behind. I pulled on my handbrake, then in the same second, he was hit from behind, and hit me a second time.
‘A van came in from my left side, and I was squashed in the driver's seat, but a guy in a high-visibility jacket smashed the window in the driver's door and I was able to crawl out.
‘The guy in the car behind me was soaked in blood, he was badly injured.’
Mr Elad said those caught up in crashes were well looked after by the emergency services and voluntary organisations who attended, such as the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance Brigade and Salvation Army.
‘We've been given water, crisps and biscuits. They're doing what they can for us,’ he said.
Emergency assistance: There were reports of six serious injuries and 200 minor injuries, police said
Fire service: Police were called at 7.15am to deal with the incident, with other emergency services
Extraordinary accident: Damaged cars on the Sheppey crossing in Kent this morning after a pile-up in fog
Crammed together: Drivers in the Kent bridge pile-up might have been caught out by the irregular nature of the fog patches this morning, according to forecasters
Kent Police said there were collisions at the top of the bridge and at the foot of the approach to it.
‘Officers are urging motorists to avoid the area but if a journey to the island is essential, the old Kingsferry Bridge remains open but expect long delays,’ a spokeswoman said.
South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was dealing with a major incident and has deployed its hazardous area response teams (HART) to the scene.
Student Jaime Emmett, 19, was driving through the fog when she became involved in the pile-up.
What a mess: Areas of Kent , Essex and parts of London suffered from some areas of this dense, patchy fog today
Early crash: Today was forecast to be mostly dry, sunny and very warm over central, southern and eastern England once the heavy early fog cleared
Concerns: The ambulance service said it believed there were eight patients with 'potentially' serious injuries following the crash in Kent this morning
‘There was a man at the side of the road saying to stop. I stopped in time but a van smashed in to me and I smashed in to the car in front,’ she said.
‘I was lucky I was not injured. It was all quite surreal when it happened.’
Ms Emmett said the fog was so thick that you could only see a few cars in front but added: ‘All I could hear was the cars smashing in front of each other and I could not know how far ahead the accident was.
‘It was so foggy I could literally see two or three cars in front of me - that was it. Then I could literally see smashed cars everywhere and a lorry had smashed in to the central reservation as well.
Pile-up: Some areas of Kent were relatively free of fog during the early rush-hour but there were also some dense patches in places
Response: Firefighters helped motorists out of their cars, while paramedics helped those injured
Huge pile-up: The accident occurred in thick fog with some witnesses saying that visibility was down to 20 yards in places and that motorists were 'driving like idiots' prior to the crash
Saying she was ‘still quite shocked’ as she stood amid the aftermath she noticed that the ambulances were on the scene straight away.
'It's horrific. I've never seen anything like it in my life. All you could hear was cars crashing'
Martin Stammers, witness
She said: ‘By the time I got out of my car there was already an ambulance there. There was a man being taken off in a stretcher.
‘I could see that everyone was shocked but they were just checking to see that everyone else was OK.
‘It was surreal and it might have been worse but people were going slower because it was quite foggy.’
Aerial view: South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was dealing with a major incident with 30 ambulances and cars at the scene, but a spokesman said he was not aware of any deaths
Astonishing: The scene on the bridge was a mass of tangled cars, lorries and even a car transporter, with reports saying that the crash went on for 10 minutes as cars continuously collided with each other
Location: The bridge is north of Kemsley, east of Gillingham, west of Faversham and north-east of Maidstone
A lorry driver who saw the start of the accident used his truck to block the entrance to the bridge and stop more cars piling into the crash, a witness said.
'At the moment there are no reports of fatalities but obviously we have a lot of vehicles there and there could be people trapped'
Kent Police spokesman
A driver involved in the crash, Chris Buckingham, told Sky News: ‘There was somebody, from what I've been told by the police there at the scene, who actually witnessed the first part of the accident, a lorry driver.
‘He was going the other way and what he managed to do, which has probably saved lives, is he's gone down to the end of the carriageway, gone across the roundabout and actually blocked off the road so no more cars could actually enter the dual carriageway before the emergency services got there.
‘Whoever that guy is I'd like to shake his hand because he's probably saved lives today.’
And it’s not just Kent hit by the bizarre summer fog
Drivers in the Kent bridge pile-up might have been caught out by the irregular nature of the fog patches this morning in the South East, forecasters said.
Some areas of Kent were relatively free of fog during the early rush-hour but there were also some dense patches in places, said Paul Mott, a senior forecaster with MeteoGroup.
He went on: ‘It could well be that drivers were caught by surprise. In some places in Kent visibility was not too bad, with fairly clear areas where you could see for up to 10 kilometres.
Misty: Fog in East London this morning, on a day when more than 100 vehicles were involved in a crash in the fog on the New Sheppey crossing bridge
Early start: This cyclist battled through fog in East London this morning. Drivers in the bridge pile-up might have been caught out by the irregular nature of the fog patches
‘But there were also some patches of dense fog, with visibility down to below 100 metres in places.’
Mr Mott said areas of Kent, Essex and parts of London suffered from some areas of this dense, patchy fog today.
He went on: ‘It looks as if the visibility was at its worst between 4am and 8.30am today, but there would also have been quite a lot of areas relatively clear.'
Today was forecast to be mostly dry, sunny and very warm over central, southern and eastern England once the early fog had cleared.
Eerie start to the day: The Houses of Parliament and Lambeth Bridge were shrouded in mist today in the early morning
Difficult visibility: The towers of the old Battersea power station are seen over roof tops in London shrouded in mist in the early morning
It is a tragic accident so we must consider saftey norms while we use the traffic resources this will definitely save lot of money and time.
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Henry Jordan
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