100-vehicle Crash In England: Uk Pile-up Ends With No Fatalites

Sheppey Bridge Pile Up

A huge 100 car vehicle crash occurred on Sheppey road in Kent, England on September 5 at around 7:15am. This serious accident continued for a lengthy ten minutes during morning rush hour. During the duration of this incident 100 cars and other vehicles crashed into each other.

Eight people were seriously injured while 35 are in the hospital following the crash. Fortunately no fatalities have been reported. In total around 200 people were seen by medical staff. This is believed to be the largest accident that occurred in fog.

Many think that so many lives were saved because of a lorry driver, who has yet to be identified, which used his truck to block the bridge’s entrance. This stopped other vehicles from being caught in the large pile up.

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.”

“It must have been going on for five to 10 minutes. You could hear the screeching, you could hear the lorries thudding into cars, you could hear glass breaking, there was nothing we could do.

“Even after the police turned up, you still heard further down the bridge – a quarter of a mile, half a mile away – cars still going into the back of each other. It was horrendous.”

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.”

Chief inspector Andy Reeves has stated that although the cause of the accident is unknown, the heavy fog along with reports of motorists driving erratically and lack of bridge lighting may have led to this pile up. The Kent Police are considering all factors when investigating how the accident began.

A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “There are no fatalities but ambulance crews are dealing with a large number of walking wounded casualties. Firefighters have used hydraulic cutting equipment to release five people from their vehicles.

Currently Sheppey Bridge is closed. Authorities are focusing on giving accident victims the medical attention they need and determining how this pile up began.

According to the Huff Post, Witnesses put visibility at 20 yards (meters) and images from the scene showed masses of twisted metal.

On The Web:

No deaths pile-up ‘truly a miracle
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/no-deaths-pileup-truly-a-miracle-29555121.html

100-Car Pileup In UK Injures Dozens On Kent Fog-Shrouded Bridge
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/100-care-pileup-kent-uk_n_3872433.html

Sheppey Crash: 100 Cars Collide On Bridge
http://news.sky.com/story/1137389/sheppey-crash-100-cars-collide-on-bridge