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'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

Thursday 05 September 2013 19:55 EDT

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

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1/15'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

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A general view of the scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Sheerness in Kent

PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-12.jpg

A man walks past the remains of a car involved in a major traffic accident on the A249 Sheppey crossing bridge in Kent

Getty Images

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-9.jpg

Getty Images

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-10.jpg

EPA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-11.jpg

EPA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-13.jpg

A recovery worker straps the wreckage of a vehicle onto a tow truck on the Sheppey crossing bridge after over 100 vehicles were involved in a major road traffic incident in Sheppey, Kent

Getty Images

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

AN27416411Jamie-Mett-handou.jpg

Jamie Mett / PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-5.jpg

A general view of the scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Sheerness in Kent following a multi vehicle collision earlier this morning

PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-8.jpg

PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-7.jpg

The scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Sheerness in Kent following a multi vehicle collision earlier this morning

PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

Sheppey.jpg

Scene on the Sheppey Bridge this morning after 100 vehicle pile up in thick fog

David Johns/ITV News Meridian

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-4.jpg

PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-3.jpg

PA

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

Sheppey-2.jpg

A view of the pile up in Sheppey involving 100 cars

@joeford/Twitter

'It is truly miraculous no one was killed': 130 vehicles, 200 hurt, a nine-hour delay - the mother of all rush-hour pile-ups at Kent's Sheppey Crossing

sheppey-6.jpg

PA

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It was “truly miraculous” that a series of accidents involving some 130 cars on a fog-shrouded bridge did not result in deaths, police said today.

Witnesses described drivers travelling at high speed without headlights on as they crossed the four-lane A249 bridge from the Isle of Sheppey to the Kent mainland prior to the pile up, which is believed to be the largest in Britain to take place in fog.

Eight of those hurt in the collisions, which took place at about 7.15am, have serious injuries.

Ambulance crews said 33 casualties needed hospital treatment in what were described as “horrendous scenes”. A further 200 people were either triaged by paramedics or given advice should symptoms develop later.

There were reports that the crashes continued for up to 10 minutes and further collisions were prevented by the quick thinking of a lorry driver who parked his lorry across a roundabout to stop further vehicles driving on to the crossing.

The remains of a car involved in the accident on the A249 — The remains of a car involved in the accident on the A249 (Getty Images)

Chief Inspector Andy Reeves, from Kent Police, said: “From my perspective, it’s truly miraculous. It’s very fortunate there were no fatalities. Visibility was very bad, down to 25 metres in thick fog, and clearly it will be a key factor in our considerations. But at this stage we haven’t yet determined what caused the start of the crash.”

Drivers described being able to see no further than two or three car lengths ahead prior to the crashes, which left a trail of buckled vehicles stretching for several hundred metres, including cars thrown on top of each other and others flipped on to their roofs.

A view of the pile up in Sheppey involving 100 cars — A view of the pile up in Sheppey involving 100 cars (@joeford/Twitter)

Firefighters had to free six people from their vehicles.

Driver Martin Stammers, from Minster, Kent, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it. All you could hear was cars crashing. We got out of our car and it was eerily quiet.”

The scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge — The scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge (PA)

The driver of a damaged van, who declined to give his name, said: “It was so foggy, you couldn’t see anything in front of you. By the time there was a problem, it was too late. The bridge shouldn’t have been open.”

A recovery worker straps the wreckage of a vehicle onto a tow truck — A recovery worker straps the wreckage of a vehicle onto a tow truck (Getty Images)

The crossing, which opened in 2006, does not have lighting.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson said he had previously had concerns this and said he would be asking questions of the authorities about the accident.

Scene on the Sheppey Bridge this morning after 100 vehicle pile up in thick fog — Scene on the Sheppey Bridge this morning after 100 vehicle pile up in thick fog (David Johns/ITV News Meridian)

The crossing was closed for more than nine hours and reopened at 5.30pm.

The scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Sheerness in Kent following a multi vehicle collision earlier this morning — The scene on the London bound carriageway of the Sheppey Bridge Crossing near Sheerness in Kent following a multi vehicle collision earlier this morning (PA)

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