A vehicle has crashed into a wall outside a property minutes away from the site of the A66 crash and subsequent deadly house fire near Middlesbrough. The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday morning at a house on Steele Crescent, South Bank. It is located near the site of a crash on the A66 which killed seven people on Saturday, and a house fire in Grangetown on Wednesday, where a seven-year-old girl and her aunt died.
Police investigate early morning crash
Officers from Cleveland Police were called to the house – which was empty at the time – after 12.30am on Thursday. An investigation has been launched and police have not confirmed whether there is any link between the previous two incidents and today’s crash.
Local policing Superintendent Emily Harrison said: ‘The property was empty at the time and we have not currently received any reports of any injuries.’
Inquests into police officers' deaths
The crash occurred the same morning that inquests were opened into the deaths of two police officers who were among those killed when their vehicle was hit by a car driving the wrong way down the A66. PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died in the resulting head-on collision with a Volkswagen Passat on Saturday.
Teesside Coroners’ Court heard that ‘all occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene’. In short, consecutive hearings, coroner Paul Appleton said Pc Blades was identified by his wife, and Pc Clough by his partner. The provisional cause of death was said to be head and neck injuries for Pc Blades, and neck injuries for Pc Clough.
Investigations into organised crime
Police have arrested 17 people following the crash as part of investigations into alleged organised crime. Two have been charged and the others have been bailed. Police have previously said the five young men in the Passat may have had links to ‘serious and organised criminal activity’, with four having previous convictions.
Inquests will open this afternoon into the deaths of the young men who were in the Passat during the collision – Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak.
Community mourns fire victims
On Wednesday, seven-year-old Valentina Foster and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died following a fire at a house in Grangetown. Tributes have been left outside the property, including flowers and toys, plus a photo of the pair and the words: ‘RIP Natalie and Valentina you will be missed.’ A teddy bear was left with a note which said: ‘Now she dances with butterflies Valentina.’
Prime minister Andy Burnham has said the government is offering ‘all of the support that the authorities need’ following the house fire. ‘The important thing, it’s a terribly tragic event that’s happened with the loss of a young woman and her seven-year-old niece,’ he said. He continued: ‘Utterly devastating, and I’m sure there’s a whole community that is grieving, not just what happened at the weekend, and particularly we should stress our deepest respect for the police officers lost in the line of duty and sending our sympathies to their families.’
