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    Fireworks smoke linked to UK crash that killed 7

    AP – Sun, Nov 6, 2011

    LONDON (AP) — Police investigating the cause of a 34-car pile-up on a major British highway that killed seven people and injured 51 said Sunday they are focusing on a fireworks display near the accident site.

    While initial reports suggested fog and wet road surfaces were partly to blame for the huge collision, police said they have now zeroed in on the fireworks show after evidence taken from witnesses indicated that black smoke emerging from it may be the main culprit.

    Rescue workers have described the road accident as one of the deadliest in the country in years.

    "We believe from the witnesses and from what we're being told that it was smoke and not fog," Assistant Chief Constable Anthony Bangham told reporters. "The vehicles and people who were entering into the smoke bank have just described it as being impossible to drive through and that, of course, causing them to brake."

    Friday night's crash on the M5 highway in southwestern England saw dozens of cars and industrial trucks consumed by flames, with intense fireballs that made it difficult for rescue workers to get near the vehicles.

    The fireworks display in a nearby rugby club was one of many organized over the weekend across Britain to mark Guy Fawkes Day, an annual commemoration of the English activist who tried to blow up Parliament in the 17th century.

    The probe into what caused the accident will be taken up by crime teams and road police, Bangham said.

    Police have finished removing all vehicles from the highway in Somerset, and the roads have partly reopened.

     
    • F.B.
      F.B.  •  Los Angeles, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Have you ever driven in dense fog and have some mental midget pass you at 70mph? Happens everywhere, It only takes one to get the pile up started.
    • not me
      not me  •  6 mths ago
      The event is remembered, not celebrated, by burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on a large bonfire. He is remembered as a traitor.
      Regardless of the reason for the accident, it's still a dreadful tragedy. The smoke must have caught drivers by surprise, so they had no chance to slow down.
      • D.
        D. 6 mths ago
        Yet all the OWS people think he's a hero
      • Bill
        Bill 6 mths ago
        Should of been NO supprise, There was already FOG so the drivers need to Wake up and start to slow down and be READY for anything and this has nothing to do with Guy Fawker you Bigot!
    • opinionator
      opinionator  •  6 mths ago
      Even if it was smoke, it still takes people driving faster than conditions allow to cause mess.
    • Rodney S
      Rodney S  •  6 mths ago
      80 mph cars, and 20 mph brains don't mix.
    • travelertoo
      travelertoo  •  6 mths ago
      That is just what that is good for. The United States celebrates freedom from the Crown taxing the poor but letting the corporation East India Tea company get by with paying very little taxes. Why do we have to celebrate this by polluting our environment? We should celebrate this by hanging some of those bank CEOs.
    • Yahoosux
      Yahoosux  •  London, United Kingdom  •  6 mths ago
      "They have an annual celebration for a terrorist? I cant imagine a Timothy McVeigh day in the US."

      Guido "Guy" Fawkes was a Papist terrorist trying to get the country to revert to Catholicism and submit once more to Papal authority. He isnt' celebrated, what is celebrated is that he was caught and his plan was thwarted and we still commemorate the event by burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes and celebrating the victory over Catholicism. If you get your information from V for Vendetta then you're (a) going to suffer under the delusion that Guy Fawkes was a hero and not a villain and (b) entirely unaware that the hero of V for Vendetta is actually a thinly veiled retelling of Satan's story. As V introduces himself with the opening lyrics of Sympathy for the Devil "allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste". One of the many little clues as to what V is really about from it's occultist author.
    • Jesse G
      Jesse G  •  Huntingdon, United States  •  6 mths ago
      All it takes is a couple of "rubber-neckers" looking at the fireworks instead of paying attention to where they were driving. I doubt it was smoke from the fireworks.
      • A.A.J.
        A.A.J. 6 mths ago
        Good to know the opinion of a person who wasn't there, spoke to no one about it and in general, has no clue. Thanks for your valuable insight.
      • GloriaW
        GloriaW 6 mths ago
        you know nothing about dense fog,smog,smoke obviously.
      • Jesse G
        Jesse G 6 mths ago
        Ahh...but I know about rubber-neckers. In my younger days a I spent a lot of time on the road and know the situations that can occur when people slow down unexpectedly to gawk at something going along the highway. Very dangerous. I'm still of the opinion that if everyone had been paying attention to their driving this would not have happened. All it takes is one idiot to cause a major accident. For the record I've traveled in snowstorm whiteouts, dense fog, ice storms, and heavy downpours of rain. You're right about the smoke unless the smoke inside my vehicle counts.
    • Doug
      Doug  •  Middletown, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Too bad this happened, but the daily premature deaths from tobacco and drugs is far higher.
    • Dan
      Dan  •  6 mths ago
      Smoke + fog= Blackout conditions. About the same thing happened in the late 80's on I-5 in Oregon. Semi's smashing into slowed & stopped cars due to a controlled field burn's smoke mixing with fog. They revamped the way they burn fields after that....a little late for them though.
    • Marshall Law Cle OH
      Marshall Law Cle OH  •  Cleveland, United States  •  6 mths ago
      I would have never thought that was one of the risks associated with fireworks.
    • Allank
      Allank  •  Grafton, United States  •  6 mths ago
      another blatant attempt to place blame for damage on Guy Fawkes ! will he ever be vindicated ?
    • Romie
      Romie  •  Kingston, Jamaica  •  6 mths ago
      the drivers most have been distracted by the fireworks and did not keep their eyes on the road...
    • Daniel
      Daniel  •  Atlanta, United States  •  6 mths ago
      It's easy to see how this tragedy happened. Just looking at the picture tells the story. Big turn in the road and your in the smoke. You could'nt see that it was covering the road as you approached, cause it was off to the side of roadway, and then you went around the curve, and was in it. This is why all firework displays need to be prohibited without a safety officer on site.
    • Steve, me-ouch!
      Steve, me-ouch!  •  Orlando, United States  •  6 mths ago
      When driving at high speeds and seeing dense smoke ahead, you must either immediately pull on to the side of the road and wait for it to clear or slow down considerably and hope those behind you do the same! They did not:(
      • not me
        not me 6 mths ago
        It sounds as if there was little to no warning. Smoke suddenly billowed out from the field. You sound like a Monday morning quarterback!
      • D.
        D. 6 mths ago
        Wow, thanks for the driving lesson slick!
      • Steve, me-ouch!
        Steve, me-ouch! 6 mths ago
        No, still Sunday, Not Me, and D., no problemo:)
    • aeon23
      aeon23  •  6 mths ago
      This is all Obama's fault. Where was he when all this was happening?
      • Daniel
        Daniel 6 mths ago
        It was smoke on the road, not Moochelles butt.
      • joyce
        joyce 6 mths ago
        getting harder and harder feelings arent we!
      • aeon23
        aeon23 6 mths ago
        No, I support Obama...this was just sarcasm
    • Just Sayin
      Just Sayin  •  6 mths ago
      Were any of the trucks carrying limes? Or maybe they were carrying a lot of gay things for Sir Elton John and his husband.
    • Ryan
      Ryan  •  6 mths ago
      And soon to be on the banned list: fireworks.
      Retroactive politics is so predictable
    • bleeding heart
      bleeding heart  •  Rolling Meadows, United States  •  6 mths ago
      what a stupid reason to die
    • Jerry
      Jerry  •  6 mths ago
      a little use of brains would have prevented this if visibility is that bad SLOW DOWN! Instead of blaming the fireworks, blame the speed deamons with out brains!
    • ITOdeed
      ITOdeed  •  6 mths ago
      May the remains of the pedophile, Guy Fawkes, be covered with a giga ton of Yak dung throughout eternity and beyond.
     Post a comment
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