An early morning head-on collision near the southern Wales town of Newport killed five people Monday and seriously injured a sixth, closing the main M4 highway.

Police said the collision happened around 3:15 a.m. involving a red Ford and a red Volvo. A BBC photograph showed the cars mangled together with the Volvo upside down.

A spokesman for the Welsh Ambulance Service three men from one car and a man and a woman from the second car were declared dead at the scene. An 18-year-old man was hospitalized with multiple fractures, Sky News reported.

Police said the Independent Police Complaints Commission would investigate the crash "on the grounds that, prior to the incident, there was some form of police involvement," but no further details were released.

The highway was closed in both directions involving five exits, which caused miles-long morning rush-hour backups, the reports said.
// Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 17 September 2007   

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