A silent prayer vigil held after seven people, including two police officers, died in a crash on the A66 was marred by anger after flares were set off and balloons released.
The vigil took place at St John the Evangelist Church in South Bank on Monday. Hundreds of people reportedly gathered in a field to release balloons and pay tribute.
Flares and balloons at vigil
The Times reported that young people wearing masks arrived on scooters, off-road bikes, and quad bikes. Boys on bikes held orange and red flares, which filled the sky with smoke, the newspaper added.
Asked about the balloon releases held in tribute to the young men, locals said: “It’s disgraceful, the tributes should just be for the bobbies who died.” Balloon releases have been announced in their memory at different locations.
Crash details
Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, were killed when the Passat, which had been pursued by police, was driven the wrong way along the dual-carriageway and hit their marked armed response vehicle.
The five people in the Passat, Cole Worthy, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak, were pronounced dead at the scene at South Bank, early on Saturday.
Arrests
Cleveland Police has previously said that on the morning of the collision, it received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously.
Five more people have been arrested following investigations into events surrounding the crash on the A66 in which two police officers and five people in a Volkswagen Passat died, police have said. This brings the total of arrests to 17 following the horrific crash near Middlesbrough in the early hours of Saturday. On Tuesday, Cleveland Police said it had arrested five more people with the assistance of the National Crime Agency and the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit.
