Indians among eight killed in UK road accident

Indians are among eight persons killed in a road accident Among the survivors was a five-year-old girl who was trapped in the wreckage for an hour.

The girl, a woman and a man were fighting for their lives in hospital last night after suffering life-threatening injuries. The fourth survivor of the crash, which happened near Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire shortly after 3am, was also in hospital with serious injuries. Police said six men and two women were killed in the crash.

The minibus had been hired by an Indian family travelling from Hyson Green in Nottingham to Wembley in North-West London. From there, the 11 passengers were due to go on a coach journey around Europe, according to friends. Some of the victims worked in Nottingham for an IT firm, while the rest were relatives visiting from the Indian city of Madras. Their driver, Cyriac Joseph, who owned the minibus company, was also killed in the collision. Last night, the two lorry drivers were being held in police custody,

both on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, and one also on suspicion of drink-driving.

Brett Smith, from Milton Keynes, was the first person on the scene and helped to comfort the five-year-old girl as she lay trapped. The 37-year-old said: 'A family has been destroyed. I held a little girl by her arms as she was trapped inside the vehicle for a good hour. Two bodies were resting on her. 'She was trapped under a seat so I was holding her hand and trying to reassure her. She tried to pull herself out by holding on to my hands but couldn't.

'The fire service then arrived and decided the child was a priority. They gave me goggles because they thought I was doing a good job and wanted me to stay holding her. 'They then tried to remove the top of the van. I was trying to reassure the girl – I promised her a McDonald's. There was blood everywhere. It was like a scene from a war zone.' Ollie Miller, who saw the crash scene, said: 'It looked horrible. The two lorries were smashed badly and I could see a car or minibus underneath one of the lorries. It was totally destroyed. The minibus was basically flat.'

Last night, a close family friend of Joseph, known as Benny, said he had moved to the UK from Kerala in India five years ago with his wife Ancy and their two children. The 52-year-old had worked for Asda before starting his minicab business, ABC Travels. He bought the 16-seater minibus around four years ago and became a self-employed businessman. Benny's wife was working a night shift at the hospital where she is a nurse.