LONDON: A "horrific" pile up of vehicles on an arterial motorway claimed at least seven lives and injured over 50 in one of Britain's worst road accidents that saw speeding cars and lorries crashing into each other, sparking huge balls of fire.
UK police confirmed that at least seven people were dead in last night's mishap that involved 34 vehicles.
The death toll is expected to rise further in the accident that happened near Taunton in Somerset, south-west England, around 200 kms from London.
As many as 51 people were injured, with injuries being described as 'life-changing'.
Britain has not witnessed a road mishap of this scale since 1991, officials said, who described lorries and cars crashing into each other at high speed amidst poor weather conditions on the M5 motorway as "horrific".
The motorway that links north England with the south-west remained closed today.
Assistant Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, of the Avon and Somerset Police, said: "The incident was very, very challenging and on arrival crews were faced with literally one massive fireball".
"Most vehicles were well alight and most continued to burn for a considerable time. This made it very difficult to search the vehicles. Some of them have been burned to the ground".
Paul Slaven, of Devon and Somerset Fire Service, said it was "the worst road traffic collision anyone can remember".
The motorway has been closed in both directions while rescue and restoration operations are completed.
The incident happened around 2 am.
