Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Lorry drivers charged with death by dangerous driving after fatal M1 crash which left 8 dead

Three people including five-year-old girl are fighting for their lives

Samuel Osborne
Sunday 27 August 2017 04:26 EDT
Eight dead as minibus collides with lorries on M!

Two lorry drivers have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving after an M1 motorway crash killed eight people.

Six men and two women died when the minibus they were travelling in collided with two lorries.

A man and woman were taken to hospital along with a five-year-old girl, all with life-threatening injuries, Thames Valley Police said.

A fourth person was admitted to hospital with less severe injuries after the collision on the southbound carriageway of the motorway near Newport Pagnell, between junctions 15 and 14.

Thames Valley Police said Ryszard Masierak, 31, and David Wagstaf, 53, had been charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Masierak has also been charged with eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit.

Six men and two women died when the two lorries and the minibus collided.

Some of those on the minibus were visiting the UK from India.

Pictures of the vehicles appeared to show a FedEx lorry with its cab crushed and the cab of an AIM Logistics lorry twisted around to the side.

Another image showed what appeared to be the crumpled wreckage of the minibus on the back of a flatbed truck.

Broken glass and debris from the collision was scattered across the tarmac.

Masierak has been remanded in custody to appear at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on Monday, while Wagstaff was bailed to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court on 11 September.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in