Five Injured in Pile-up on M5

On Tuesday, five people were injured in a seven-vehicle pile-up on the M5 between junctions 10 and 11. The accident involved a lorry and several cars and happened shortly after 5pm between Cheltenham and Gloucester. Emergency services say that a male motorist was suffering from life-threatening injuries and was flown to Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital after being cut free from his vehicle. Two other drivers were taken to hospital and another two were being treated at the scene.

Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) worker John Oliver said that they got several 999 calls reporting a collision on the M5 starting from 5:15pm. A lorry was said to have been travelling northbound just past junction 11 when it crashed into several cars. Some of the vehicles were travelling southbound. The ambulance service had five patients at the scene, and one of the drivers was trapped in his car with potentially life-threatening injuries. Helicopters with a GWAS critical care team flew him to hospital. Two other male patients were being put on spinal boards and taken to hospital. They hoped that the other two patients could be treated at the scene and be discharged without hospital care, he added.

There were four GWAS crews, a critical care team, paramedics in rapid-response vehicles and a hazardous area response team at the scene. Gloucestershire Police said that northbound and southbound traffic were both affected due to the accident. The seven vehicles involved were a lorry, silver VW Passat, grey Ford Escort, silver Ford Mondeo, blue MG, white Renault van and silver Audi A4.

A Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said that it’s believed that the van was located on the exit slip road at junction nine on the northbound lane of the M5. A man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving. A female passenger was taken to Cheltenham General Hospital. Both directions of the M5 between junctions 10 and 11 were closed afterward and were likely to remain that way for several hours. Authorities thanked the public for their assistance during the accident and for other motorists’ patience while emergency services worked at the scene.

On Wednesday morning, it was reported that the inside lanes of the M5 in both directions were still closed for repairs to the central reservation, and they were due to open by the afternoon. It was also revealed that the man with life-threatening injuries in the crash suffered a serious head injury, possible internal injuries and a broken femur. His female passenger suffered neck and ankle injuries. Another male motorist was only taken to hospital for precautionary checks, while two other drivers were assessed and cleared by medical teams at the scene.