M5 tragedy brings back painful memories
An officer in Newbury recalls the motorway crash 20 years ago which killed 10 people
THE TRAGEDY on the M5 in Somerset last Friday, November 4, has brought back painful memories of West Berkshire's own motorway horror two decades ago.
And no one recalls that fateful day better than Roger Cooper (pictured), who was the first police officer on the scene.
At 6.50am on March 13, 1991, disaster struck on the M4 between Membury and Hungerford when a van driver fell asleep at the wheel and skidded into the central crash barrier.
Oncoming cars, travelling at speed in patchy fog, crashed and span out of control and an articulated lorry jack-knifed sideways blocking all three lanes.
In a matter of seconds, ten people were killed, and 25 were injured in the subsequent mayhem.
Mr Cooper, a 61-year-old father of two who now lives in London Road, Newbury, was with the M4 Accident Unit and found himself first on the scene. He recalled: “I remember like it was yesterday. I had just come on duty and suddenly I was confronted by over 100 vehicles, concertinaed into 50 yards. It was then the UK's worst, multiple fatality road accident and I will take the images with me to the grave. They're seared into my memory.
“I remember later on there was a doctor from the Lambourn Surgery who was with me. His main job was to certify death - it's strange but I recall we were either dealing with fatalities or with very minor injuries. There seemed to be little inbetween.”
He added: “There was one man who was caught right in the middle and was trapped inside his van. He said he thought his time was up but suddenly one of the articulated lorries impacted behind him and his vehicle just disintegrated, allowing him to escape unhurt.”
Mr Cooper later received a commendation from a Thames Valley Police chief constable for his actions on that day.
He also helped plant a daffodil memorial beside the scene. To this day, when the bulbs flower, they form the shape of a cross.
The 34-vehicle pile-up on the M5, meanwhile claimed seven lives and left 51 people injured.
Officers are examining whether fog or smoke from a nearby bonfire and fireworks event may have been a factor in the crash, which happened at junction 25, near Taunton.
In a poignant irony, police are likely to call on Mr Cooper's expertise.
Since leaving the force now works in the field of forensic science.
