Seven people, including two serving police officers, were killed early Saturday in a wrong-way crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough in northeastern England, police said.
Authorities said the collision occurred after a suspicious vehicle being pursued by police was driven on the wrong side of the road and collided with a police car travelling in the correct direction. An investigation into the incident is underway.
The crash came days after five teenagers were killed in a similar incident in Ireland. Their car was travelling the wrong way on the M9 motorway west of Dublin when it collided head-on with another vehicle, seriously injuring four people, including a child.
The incidents have renewed concerns over a growing trend of dangerous wrong-way driving, with authorities warning that some such acts are being recorded and shared on social media.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin condemned the behaviour, saying there could be “no tolerance” for reckless driving on the country’s roads.
Police chief Justin Kelly said some of the incidents appeared to have been carried out specifically for social media attention. He also cited a recent crash on Dublin’s M50 involving a stolen vehicle driven the wrong way, which left several people seriously injured.
