Four men aged between 18 and 21 have died and two teenage girls have been injured after a smash between a car and an Uber taxi in Leeds in the early hours of this morning.
The four victims, aged 18, 19, 19, and 21, were pronounced dead at the scene on Broadway, the A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road, near to the junction with Bank Gardens in Horsforth.
The victims were travelling in a grey Seat Leon car, which collided with the Uber, a grey Seat Alhambra people carrier, at 2.41am this morning. The Leon had been travelling in the direction of Weetwood and the Uber taxi was heading in the opposite direction.
Two other girls, aged 16 and 17, who were in the Seat car were taken to hospital, one in a critical condition and one whose injuries are not considered life-threatening. A firefighter who arrived at the scene found his daughter injured.
The driver of the taxi, a 42-year of man from Bradford, was taken to hospital with injuries that are serious but are not considered life threatening.
One witness said she saw a young woman crawling out of the wreckage, while another said he was woken by the sound of the crash which was ‘like an explosion’.
The damage to an Uber vehicle after the smash in Leeds in the early hours of this morning
A firefighter who attended the crash discovered his daughter was one of the injured. A young woman managed to crawl from the wreckage but two of the dead remained trapped in the Leon and two, who were pulled out of the vehicle died despite the efforts of a local doctor.
The accident happened directly outside the home of Steph Callaghan, 31, who said: ‘I was awake, getting myself a drink, when I heard a speeding car. It was that loud that I thought it was a motorbike.
‘Then there was a screech of tyres and a big explosion of noise. The crash was so bad you could not make out how many cars were involved. It was just a mess of metal.
‘I came outside and heard a man on the phone calling for an ambulance, and saying ‘there is blood everywhere’.’
The mother-of-two, who is a counsellor, stood away from the crash because she is heavily pregnant and she was concerned the cars might explode.
She said that about 30 emergency vehicle, police, fire and ambulance, quickly attended.
She said: ‘I saw a young female crawl out of the wreckage. The taxi driver looked surprisingly alright. I saw at least two bodies covered over with white sheets, but I’m not sure how many people where in both vehicles in total.’
She said that about 20 minutes after the crash a distressed woman turned up at the scene screaming ‘where is she, where is she?’.
Four people aged between 18 and 21 have died after a smash between a car and an Uber in Leeds in the early hours of this morning
Flowers are left at the scene after four people died in the horror collision on the outskirts of Leeds this morning
People lay flowers at the scene after police confirmed that four people had died in the crash in Leeds
Another resident Allan Vickers, 39, said: ‘I was woken up by the sound of the crash. It was absolute chaos and carnage.’
Father-of-two Allan, a plasterer, said the bend is an ‘accident blackspot’ but this is the first fatal crash.
‘The two cars were totally destroyed. A doctor neighbour of mine came out of his house and tried CPR on two people who were dragged out of the car, but they were beyond hope.
‘I was told not to go near the car because there were bodies still in there.’The Leon was removed from the scene with two bodies still inside, for them to be extracted elsewhere.
Sergeant Fiona Hoodless, of West Yorkshire Police Major Collision Enquiry Team, said: ‘This is a very tragic incident where four young men have lost their lives and three other people are in hospital with serious injuries.
‘The families of those involved are devastated by what has happened and we are doing everything we can to support them at this very difficult time.
Police said they were called to the scene in which four young people have been killed
A man sweeps up the damage after the crash in Horsforth early on Saturday
‘We are carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the full circumstances surrounding this incident and that investigation is still at a very early stage.
‘Early indications are that the Leon was travelling at speed at the time of the collision.
‘We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the collision itself or saw the circumstances leading up to it.
We are also keen to speak to anyone who saw the silver Seat Leon being driven in the area at any point prior to the collision, particularly anyone with dashcam footage that could assist the investigation.
Chief Inspector Richard Padwell, of Leeds District Police, said: ‘The deaths of four young people in these circumstances is clearly very tragic and our thoughts and condolences go out to everyone affected by it.
‘We don’t underestimate the impact that the deaths of these young people will be having in the community and we would ask that people focus on supporting each other and supporting the police investigation.’
‘The road remains closed and is likely to remain so for some time.’
Witness Andrew Buckley told the Yorkshire Post: ‘We didn’t see anything, just heard a bang. It sounded like an explosion. There were two cars.
‘I got up and had a look and saw a couple of cars that were really badly damaged.’
The scene in the early hours of this morning as emergency services responded to the horror smash in Leeds