M1 minibus crash: Two men charged over fatal collision near Milton Keynes

Two men have been charged over a crash involving two lorries and a minibus which killed eight people on the M1.

Six men and two women died in the collision near Milton Keynes, while a woman, a man and a five-year-old girl who were also in the minibus sustained life-threatening injuries.

Another woman was taken to hospital but her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Cyriac Joseph, who was also known as Benny, has been named as one of the victims.

Tributes to Mr Joseph, who worked for the minibus firm, have been paid on Facebook, with one friend saying: "We will meet again in heaven."

The crash is believed to be the worst on Britain's roads in terms of loss of life since 13 people died in a minibus crash on the M40 in 1993.

Three other victims were Karthikeyan Ramasubramaniyam Pugalur, Rishi Rajeev Kumar, and Vivek Bhaskaran.

They all worked for IT firm Wipro Ltd, along with Mano Ranjan Panneerselvam who was critically injured.

Ryszard Masierak, 31, and David Wagstaff, 53, have both been charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The former was also charged with eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit.

Masierak, of Barnards Close, Evesham, Worcestershire, was remanded in custody and will appear at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Meanwhile, Wagstaff, of Derwent Street, Stoke-on-Trent, was bailed to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court on 11 September.

The vehicles collided while travelling on the southbound carriageway between junctions 15 and 14 at around 3.15am on Saturday.

It is believed the minibus had travelled from the Nottingham area and police said some of its passengers were visiting the UK from India.

AIM Logistics and FedEx confirmed their lorries were involved in the crash.

AIM director Ismail Elmagdoub said: "We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones and also those who have been injured at this very sad time.

"Road safety and compliance is of the utmost importance to AIM Logistics and we are continuing to assist the police as much as possible with their enquiries."

FedEx said its "deepest thoughts and concerns are with all of those involved".

The delivery company added: "Safety is of the utmost importance to FedEx, and we are cooperating fully with authorities but have no further information at this time."

22-year-old Audi RS horror crash victim was ‘a loving and caring son’

Tributes to the young man continue on Facebook, with hundreds of people saying what a loving, caring young man he was, who’d never been in any kind of trouble

A 22-year-old Bradford man has tragically lost his life in a horrifying car crash.

Law graduate Shumas Fakeer was a passenger in a blue Audi RS4, which collided with a tree and a lamppost on Bradford Road in Bingley, shortly after 4 am on Sunday 26th February.

Shumas, of Frizinghall, Bradford was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The driver, also from Bradford, suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Following the crash the 24-year-old driver of the Audi was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving - he has since been bailed pending further inquiries.

Police now believe that a second vehicle, driving in tandem with the car, may have played a part in the accident. Two men, aged 23 and 24, who were in the black Volkswagen Golf, have been arrested.

It is thought that the two cars travelled through Heaton and along Toller Lane, before heading into Cottingley and then Bingley, which is where the tragic accident occurred.

Since the terrible news broke, tributes to the young man continue on Facebook, with hundreds of comments saying what a loving, caring young man he was, who’d never been in any kind of trouble.

“Lovely guy and will be missed at work,” a colleague posted.

The Bingley Green party posted to their Facebook page, paying tribute to the young man.

“Sad news about the accident on Bradford Road. Another promising young live lost[sic],” they wrote.

Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, paid tribute to the victim and called for the police and the council to take the action needed to avoid future accidents.

“My heart goes out to the family of Shumas. They must be devastated, and it is hard to imagine the pain they will be going through.

“I very much hope that the Police and Bradford Council will review closely if any lessons can be learned from this terrible accident to ensure we can avoid any repeats of this dreadful incident on this stretch of road.”

Police are now appealing for witnesses who may have seen the accident take place.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "The Major Collision and Enquiry Team is now appealing for information about a black VW Golf which is believed to have been travelling in tandem with the Audi at the time of the collision."

Anyone with any information is being urged to contact the Major Collision Enquiry Team on 101.

“RIP beautiful”: Tributes flood in for teenager who died in Rochdale crash

CAR CRASH: Talaina was taken to hospital with major head injuries and died two days later

A teenage girl has died two days after a horrific road crash in Rochdale on Monday 14th November.

Eighteen year old Talaina Hussain was sitting in the passenger’s front seat of a Peugeot 206 when it crashed into a wall in Rochdale on Monday evening.

The popular teenager was taken to hospital with major head injuries but lost her battle for life two days later.

Police are investigating the cause of the smash on Dewhirst Road, Syke, and are appealing for witnesses to get in contact.

In a sad twist of fate, it has come to light that Talaina was friends with Chloe Cockton, the 16-year-old who also died in a car crash in Rochdale in the summer.

Both girls went to St Cuthbert’s RC High School which has led a flood of tributes to Talaina, who was also known as Talaina Cullen.

REST IN PEACE: Talaina was a popular young woman whose loss has sent shockwaves through the local community

A statement on the school’s Facebook page said: “Our school community are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Talaina Cullen.

“Talaina is fondly remembered by us all and she will be deeply missed.

“We would like to offer the deepest of sympathy to Talaina’s family and friends as we remember them in our prayers.”

Dozens of Talaina’s family and friends have also written touching tributes to Talaina on social media websites.

One friend wrote: “All I can think of is your goofy laugh and them daft glasses. Always had us laughing, never a dull moment.”

Another friend posted: “So beautiful, rest easy.”

“So shocked by this horrible news, Talaina Hussain, taken away so soon. RIP beautiful.”

Another post said: “You will be missed unconditionally babe, left us all heart broken haven’t you? I hope you rest easy baby girl, miss you loads already.”

An online crowdfunding page has been set up to support the family and has already raised £3,550 of their £5,000 goal.

PC Dermot Murray, of GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “I would like to offer my most sincere condolences to the family of the young woman who has now sadly died.

“We have specially trained officers providing them with support at this extremely difficult time as they come to terms with their loss.

“We are still appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the collision or has dashcam footage to please contact us as we attempt to fully establish the circumstances leading up to the collision.”

Supercar smash driver jailed

TRAGEDY: Hamza Gujjar was pronounced dead at the scene following the horror smash

Teenager high on cannabis killed three of his friends in high-speed crash

A teenager ‘high on cannabis’ who killed three of his friends in a horror sports car smash after reaching speeds of up to 120mph has been jailed for six years on the day of his 18th birthday.

Boy racer, Arayeb Saqib, admitted causing the death of three of his friends while driving an Audi S5 so fast it became airborne.

Hours after they had attended a family wedding, Saqib - who was 17 at the time and who did not hold a driving licence - got behind the wheel of a hired super performance sports car with his four friends.

Saqib, who turned 18 today, bowed his head in the dock as he was told that his driving during the early hours of 27th April had been the ‘worst case of causing death by dangerous driving’ that the sentencing judge at Manchester Crown Court had ever encountered.

Police saw the car driving dangerously through South Manchester but an officer decided it was not safe to go beyond 80mph after giving chase.

By the time the vehicle had crossed a junction it was going at such speed that the camber of the road acted as a ramp.

The car took off, flew through the air, and hurtled over to where it landed on the other side of the road.

Saqib lost control, and skidded sideways for 100 metres, crashing into a sign and two parked cars, causing his friends’ horrific injuries.

It has been reported that at the hospital he claimed to be a passenger, telling nurses he saw the speedometer reach 110mph,

Three of his passengers - Hamza Iqbal, 24, Mohammad Hamza Gujjar, 21, and Munib Karim, 20 - were all fatal victims of the resulting smash . A fourth - Suhaib Aziz, 19 – ‘miraculously’ survived the collision - albeit with serious injurious.

Mr Karim, whose sister's wedding had taken place only hours earlier, died in hospital the following day.

Judge David Stockdale QC said Saqib's ‘truly appalling driving’ had been motivated by a ‘selfish wish for self-preservation’ and desire to impress his older friends.

At an earlier hearing, Saqib, who had not been at the wedding, pleaded guilty to three charges of causing death by dangerous driving and one charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

In opening the case, prosecutor Gavin Howie said the white Audi was witnessed by a police patrol car driving ‘out of control’ - describing the car as ‘fishtailing’ as it travelled in the opposite direction to the officer.

When the officer activated his sirens the Audi sped up to speeds of around 70mph along the 30 and 40mph road before disappearing from sight.

Mr Howie told the court: “The truth is he never really got close to it.”

Two men were pronounced dead at the scene - one having been thrown from the window.

Asiana Airlines fined $500,000

US regulators have fined Asiana Airlines $500,000 (£300,000) for failing to help victims of a flight crash last year at San Francisco's airport.

Three people died and dozens were injured when Asiana Flight 214 crashed on 6th July 2012.

The Department of Transportation said Asiana took up to five days to notify the families of all 291 passengers.

Regulators also said the carrier lacked translators and trained crash staff.

It is the first time an airline has ever been fined by regulators for failing to obey a 1997 US law that mandates prompt assistance to the families of crash victims.

"In the very rare event of a crash, airlines have a responsibility to provide their full support to help passengers and their families by following all the elements of their family assistance plans," said US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement.

"The last thing families and passengers should have to worry about at such a stressful time is how to get information from their carrier."

Officials said the Korea-based airline took five days to send all necessary personnel to San Francisco to deal with the emergency.

They also said that for at least 24 hours after the crash, Asiana failed to provide a number of families with opportunity to call and find out more information about the incident.

When family members eventually were able to call, they were initially routed to a reservations line rather than a crisis hotline.

The Boeing 777 crashed at San Francisco's international airport after the plane came in too low and hit a sea wall.

The plane's pilot later said he was worried he hadn't had enough training to properly land the plane without the assistance of the instrument landing system, which was out of service for repairs at the time.