Driver dies after M42 horror crash

A van driver from Birmingham has died after his vehicle fell from a bridge and landed on the M42.

The 35-year-old man from Shard End suffered multiple serious injuries after his Nissan Cabstar van fell from the A452 before landing on the motorway between junctions seven and six, near the NEC.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures from the scene

Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the incident at about 1.45pm yesterday.

The victim was taken to Walsgrave Hospital but died while undergoing emergency surgery for severe head, chest and abdominal injuries.

Specialist traffic officers continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident but initial inquiries suggest the deceased lost control of his van at the traffic island on the A452 near the junction of the A446 before crashing through safety barriers.

The driver was tended to by other motorists until emergency services arrived at the scene. The drivers of a Ford Mondeo and a Man Box Van escaped injury when the van struck their vehicles as it came to rest.

The southbound carriageway between junction 7 and 6 was closed for more than four hours while a forensic examination of the scene was conducted and vehicles recovered.

One lane on the northbound carriageway was closed to allow emergency workers easy access to the crash site.

Tailbacks stretched for up to eight miles on the northbound carriageway while traffic in the opposite direction stretched back for two miles, the Highways Agency confirmed.

Drivers were advised to avoid the area and maintenance workers cut their way through the central barrier to allow southbound traffic which had not been able to leave the motorway to join the northbound carriageway under the supervision of Highways Agency staff at 4.15pm. The motorway reopened at 5.58pm.