- .Mitzi Rosanna Steady killed as she walked with her grandmother
- .Chauffeur Stephen Vaughan and father Phil Allen among 3 killed in car
- .Grandmother of girl airlifted to hospital and is now in a 'critical' condition
- .Lorry thought to have been delivering aggregate to school building site
- .Witnesses say driver told them his brakes stopped working before crash
- .Locals say road was rat-run for trucks taking building materials to school
Three of the four victims killed when a tipper truck veered out of control yesterday have been named - with the youngest just four years old.
Mitzi Rosanna Steady was walking hand-in-hand with her grandmother in Bath, Somerset when the 32-ton lorry careered down a busy road and onto the pavement.
It is understood she was going to meet an older sister who attends the nearby Weston All Saints Primary School when the horrific accident happened.
Witnesses said they believe the vehicle's brakes failed on the hill, causing it to collide with a number of cars and then into a wall. Those who arrived at the scene said it 'looked like a bomb had dropped'.
Two of the other three men killed in the crash were named locally as executive taxi driver Stephen Vaughan, 34, and father-of-two Phil Allen, 52, both from south Wales.
Mr Vaughan - who married his wife Sian last August - had been called to Bath to collect two passengers including Mr Allen, a director of electricity company Western Power.
Mitzi Rosanna Steady was killed as she walked with her grandmother in Bath yesterday when a tipper truck veered out of control and crashed. Three other men, who were in a car, also died
A second victim has been named as executive taxi driver Stephen Vaughan (left, with his wife Sian, and right)
Witnesses said Little Mitzi had just got off a bus with her grandmother when the tragedy unfolded.
The youngster's family have released a short tribute, which reads: 'Mitzi Rosanna Steady aged four, loved and missed by us all.'
Her grandmother, who has not been named, remains in a critical condition in hospital in Bristol after she was airlifted from the scene.
Newlywed Mr Vaughan was business manager of EliteXecutive Travel, based in Swansea, who was hired by a company to collect the two other victims from Bath.
The Volvo he was driving was due to drop his first passenger 50 miles away in Cwmbran, Gwent, before carrying on another 50 miles to take Mr Allen back to his home in Swansea.
Mr Allen was married with two children, aged 23 and 26. His wife Caroline, 53, was today being comforted by relatives.
Mr Vaughan married his wife Sian in August last year in a beach wedding at the Flamingo Hotel in Fethiye, Turkey. She was today described as 'absolutely distraught' by friends at their home in Swansea.
Mr Vaughan and his brother Andrew established EliteXecutive Travel in 2007 after years of being involved in airport transfers
The other businessman travelling in the car - who was 59 and of Cwmbran, south Wales - has not been named.
It is thought the truck - whose driver is said to be aged 19 - was delivering aggregate to be used in construction work at the primary school.
Police continued their investigations at the accident scene today, from where the wreckage of the lorry and a number of cars it hit were removed last night.
It is believed Mitzi Steady was going to meet her older sister from school when the accident happened
Local residents struggled to hold back the tears as they laid flowers and toys at the site today
Family and friends left floral tributes to the youngster at the scene today. Her family described Mitzi as 'loved and missed by us all'
Witnesses said the lorry driver was 19 and had frantically tried to stop anybody being hurt in the accident.
Philip Browne, 65, spoke to the man after he crawled out of the windscreen of his cab.
He said: 'The poor chap was in bits. He was looking for a coat and was shaking and upset. He was in a state of shock.
'He said "I think I've killed somebody". He said that he was coming down the hill and his boss was driving in front of him.
We can never properly answer the question of why. Why on what was really one of the most beautiful days of the year, with glorious sunshine and fresh, cold winter weather, that out of nowhere - literally - such a terrible disaster should happen.
Reverend Patrick Whitworth
'His boss stopped at the crossing. He said that he tried to apply the breaks but they didn't work and then he grabbed the handbrake.
'He was sounding his horn, trying to get people out if his way. He said he was trying to slow down by driving along the houses' walls.'
Another eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said: 'The girl who died and her grandmother were on a bus, which stopped to let passengers off.
'They got off the bus at the stop. It looks like while the bus was stopped the tipper truck tried to over take it. Then while overtaking it has lost control. I don't know how.
'There is a pedestrian crossing about 40 yards from where the bus was stopped. I can't be sure if they were crossing it when they were killed.
'We saw the aftermath - it was eerie, so hard to ingest, absolutely horrific. I could see a woman wrapped in blankets against the wall.
'It's such a horrible thing to have happened, they were local. It's upset a lot of people.'
Three men - one aged 59 from Cwmbran, south Wales and a 52-year-old and 34-year-old both from Swansea - who were in a Volvo which has hit by the truck, also died at the scene from their injuries.
At least four more people - including a woman walking with the young girl - were injured in the carnage and taken to hospital, one of them by air ambulance.
The scene of the accident in which an out-of-control tipper truck killed four people, including a young girl in Bath, Somserset. Sand which spilled from the truck remained next to the smashed wall this morning
This morning, floral tributes were laid at the scene near where four people lost their lives yesterday afternoon
Mourners lit candles for those who had died at a service at the nearby All Saints Church today. Pictured: Kate Thomas helps her daughters Isabel, seven, and Chloe, five
A service of prayers was held at nearby All Saints Church at 10am this morning, where locals gathered to remember those killed.
Classmates of Mitzi's older sister were helped to light candles by their parents, before scrawling their own touching messages in felt tip on a remembrance board.
Local vicar Rev Patrick Whitworth described the 'beautiful sunny day' which so suddenly turned to tragedy and called on the community to support those who have lost loved ones.
Anne Bull, headteacher of Weston All Saints Primary School said: On behalf of the school community, I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those who died yesterday. We also send our best wishes to the people that have been injured.
'This is a truly shocking event that has been deeply felt by the local community.
'We have decided to close the school today out of respect, but anticipate pupils returning tomorrow.
'We will be supporting any children that need bereavement counselling, as some pupils may have been affected because this accident took place so near to the school.'
Witnesses to the incident said the truck driver appeared to be having brake trouble when he lost control on a steep hill on the northern outskirts of Bath at around 4pm.
Locals say the driver of the truck was 19 years old and in total shock after the collision.
A man who desperately tried to help those killed today described the aftermath.
Rev Patrick Whitworth called on the community to rally around and help the families of those who have died
Locals have said the community, in a suburb to the north of Bath, has been left 'in shock' by the accident
Lots of children were at the service, which was held not far from the school which is closed today
Brian Fisher, 53, was working nearby with a colleague when he heard the 32-tonne lorry's windows blow out. He said: 'It was carnage, absolute carnage.'
Mr Fisher's colleague called 999 and relayed details of the casualties to the emergency operator.
Mr Fisher said: 'We went to the silver car in which the three people died.
'We didn't see it at first, it was at the other side of the lorry. We rushed there and tried to do what we could, to lift bits of the car off and get them out, but you wouldn't recognise it as a car.
He added: 'I couldn't even tell you what make it was - the damage was that bad.
'There was a nurse who tried to clear a guy's airway but it didn't work. I don't know where they found the third person because we only found two.
'I spoke to a police officer who said that in 25 years he had never seen anything like this.'
Eyewitness Ann Fellow, 62, heard the crash and ran out into the street.
She attended the service with grandchildren Kairan, seven, Maddie, five, and Freya, four, before laying tulips at the scene.
She said: 'There was a deafening bang - worse than thunder. It was like a huge dull thud. It was deafening. It just doesn't bare thinking about. It doesn't feel real. It was like a nightmare.'
The devastation was clear today, with garden walls and road signs crushed on the floor.
Police Chief Inspector Norman Pascal said this morning: 'This is a tragic incident in which three men and a young girl have lost their lives and we're carrying out a full and meticulous investigation to find out what happened.
'The tipper truck has been recovered and will undergo a full examination and our investigators will be carrying out further enquiries at the scene today.
'We have specially trained family liaison officers supporting the victims' families to make sure they have all the help they need and are being kept updated on the progress of our investigation.'
The wreckage of the tipper truck was taken away from the scene on the back of a trailer late last night
The scene last night. The lorry ended up on its side after striking several cars and a number of pedestrians as it travelled down Lansdown Lane just after 4pm yesterday
A 66-year-old woman who lives opposite the scene of the crash said: 'My whole house shook with a terrific noise like a bomb going off. I rushed outside and it was just mayhem.
'The lorry was on its side on top of a black car, and I was told three people in the black car had died.
'The gravel from the lorry was all over the road and the fire brigade arrived and cut the bodies free from the wreckage.
'The lorry had hit lots of other cars on its way down the hill, and I was told there was a grandmother, mother and daughter walking along the pavement and that the little girl had been killed when the lorry mounted the pavement.'
The woman added that there were injured people wherever she looked, adding: 'The lorry seemed to have had brake failure and it came to rest on the corner.
'It demolished the walls of all the houses on the corner and two workmen said the driver shot through the windscreen.
'It was an accident waiting to happen. I have complained to the police before about these heavy lorries going up and down the lane.
'It is too steep and too narrow for such big, heavy vehicles and there is supposed to be a 6ft width restriction on the lane but they just ignore it.'
Another resident said the road was unsuitable for lorries.
He added: 'It's supposed to be no vehicles over 6ft wide but the lorries have been using it as a shortcut for years and no one has ever done anything about it. Maybe they will now, but that's not going to help those poor people who have died.'
A young girl was among four people killed yesterday when a truck ran out of control near a school in Bath
Wreckage of the silver car in which three men died was also removed from the scene last night
Another local said the truck driver was sounding the horn frantically and even overtook another lorry: 'It was clear he could not stop.'
Chris Lucas saw two air ambulance helicopters landing on a playing field shortly after the crash.
Mr Lucas said: 'My children were coming home and as I opened the front door my neighbour said, 'Oh my God there has been a crash'. We didn't know at that point how bad it was.
'One thing that is really is concerning is that road is on the school pick-up run. Weston All Saints Primary School is right next to it.
'It is a very tight community here and one of my children goes to that school. My thoughts go out to everyone involved.'
A spokesman for the Royal United Hospital in Bath said the three patients treated there had minor injuries. 'As a precaution, one adult male and one adult female are being kept in overnight,' he said.
'The third person, an adult male, is being discharged.'
A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service Trust confirmed a woman was flown to Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
The woman remains in the critical condition this morning, the trust in charge of Southmead hospital confirmed.
Lansdown Lane is on a hill next to Weston All Saints Primary School in Weston, north of Bath. As the truck came down the hill it veered out of control and collided with a number of cars before crashing into a wall
Emergency services at the scene yesterday. Pupils were returning home from lessons when the driver of the gravel lorry careered round a corner and crashed into vehicles and pedestrians
Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said: 'The community is in shock, both for the families of those killed and also those who have been injured.
'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.'
He confirmed that the council had imposed 20mph speed restrictions on parts of Landsdown Lane road to improve safety.
He said: 'It is a road where we have put speed limits in and flashing lights because it is quite a steep hill coming down. There have been attempts by the council over the years to improve safety.'
Fatal tipper truck crash was an 'accident waiting to happen' as locals complained street was too narrow for lorries
A father in the area yesterday claimed the tipper collision was an 'accident waiting to happen' and he had warned authorities.
The resident explained the steep, narrow road, had recently been overrun by construction deliveries to the primary school just meters from the crash site.
He said that Weston All Saints Primary School, Bath, was currently undergoing an extension to increase the number of classrooms.
But it had caused controversy amongst the locals who claimed that the project would cause traffic safety issues, including an unsafe route to school.
In a council meeting in April last year, the father asked: 'who will be held accountable if a child is killed or seriously injured trying to get to or from school?'
Weston All Saints Primary School was closed today after it was used by police at the scene yesterday
Air ambulance crews land at a school near the crash site shortly after the incident yesterday afternoon
Councillors reassured him measures would be put into place but he claims lorries continued to use the route as a run-through - despite the difficult conditions.
He added that deliveries could only be made between 8.30am and 9.30am and 2.45am and 3.45am - so it was possible the tipper truck was waiting for the curfew to be lifted.
He said: 'We were really concerned at the start, when they first began construction. The one thing we said to them is exactly what has now happened.
'How the hell has this been allowed to happen? Lorries have been turning up all day since the work started.
'The lorries should not have been there when school was finishing and starting - there are times set up - I'm just so so angry.
TRAGIC ECHO OF THE GLASGOW BIN LORRY CRASH THAT KILLED SIX
The crash is a chilling echo of the tragic accident in which a bin lorry ran out of control and killed six people in Glasgow in December.
Crowds of Christmas shoppers looked on in horror as the lorry mounted a pavement and knocked down shoppers at lunchtime in one of the city centre's busiest streets.
Erin McQuade, 18, along with her grandparents Jack Sweeney, 68, and his 69-year-old wife Lorraine, all from Dumbarton, died in the incident on December 22.
Miss McQuade's mother Jacqueline, who had gone to withdraw money from a nearby cash machine, could only watch helplessly as her parents and daughter, a student at Glasgow University, were mown down.
Primary school teacher Stephenie Tait, 29, and tax worker Jacqueline Morton, 51, both from Glasgow, and Gillian Ewing, 52, from Edinburgh, were also killed.
The driver of the lorry, who was later named as Harry Clarke, said that he had collapsed unconscious at the wheel before losing control of the truck.
The 58-year-old, who is undergoing tests for a possible heart condition, stressed that he had no problems with his health before the crash. As an HGV driver, he had been subject to regular and thorough medical examinations, and there were no warning signs before he collapsed.
He added that he thinks of the victims 'every minute of every day'.
'I understand a lot of people want to know what happened that day. I wish I could tell you but I can't. I never had anything wrong with my heart until that day,' he said.
A source close to a police inquiry into the tragedy said that things happened so quickly that two workmates sitting behind Mr Clarke were left with no chance of taking the controls. The lorry crashed within seconds of his collapse.
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