Van in fatal motorway crash

A 19-year-old woman died yesterday when a van carrying 15 young people to a theme park collided with the central reservation on a motorway. Two other women were in a critical condition in hospital after the accident, which happened on the M42 near Solihull, West Midlands. Nine others of the group travelling in the Ford Transit van were treated in hospital.

A police spokesperson said the E-registration van, which had benches down both sides, had apparently lost control near Junction 6 of the northbound carriageway,t. New regulations come into force next February which require all minibuses carrying children to have forward-facing seats and a seatbelt on every seat.