A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two collisions on a busy motorway interchange, police said.
Avon and Somerset Police were called to the meeting point of the M4 and M5 motorways at the Almondsbury Interchange, near Bristol, at around 9pm on Wednesday. The initial report was of a car which had collided with the central reservation on the M5 northbound. The driver then got out of his vehicle and was involved in a second crash involving two other vehicles on the M4.
Road closed and traffic standstill
National Highways announced a closure of the motorway and said at the time that traffic could not join the M4 westbound from either direction. The collisions happened at junction 20 of the M5 and junction 15 at the Almondsbury Interchange. Witnesses told how drivers had started exiting their vehicles on the motorway while the traffic was at a standstill and emergency services got to work.
Arrest and hospitalisation
A man has since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and on suspicion of being unfit to drive through drink or drugs. He remains in hospital with “potentially life changing” injuries, police said. The driver and passenger of the initial vehicle were taken to hospital, where the passenger has since been discharged. The drivers of the other cars involved are aiding police with enquiries and are being treated as witnesses.
Both carriageways were closed while emergency services attended but reopened at 10.30pm yesterday. Police have appealed for anyone with information or who witnessed the collision or the moments which followed to call 101 and quote reference 5226252893.
