Three men killed in crash and three arrests made

Three young men have been killed in a car crash in West Yorkshire, police have said.

Two men, aged 22, and a 21-year-old died of their injuries in the collision on Wednesday evening in Illingworth. Another 21-year-old man remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A man, aged 37, and two women, aged 18 and 32, all from Halifax, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remained in custody, said police.

Three vehicles, a white Ford Fiesta, a blue BMW and a stationary, unoccupied Renault Clio, were involved in the collision on Keighley Road at the junction of Cobblestones Drive at about 18:50 GMT.

Keighley Road remains closed while police carry out inquiries.

The three men who died and the injured passenger were travelling in the white Ford while the occupants of the blue BMW were arrested.

Det Sgt Paul Lightowler said it was a "tragic incident" and urged any witnesses or anyone with dash cam footage to contact police.

"Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of the people who died.

"Specially trained officers will be supporting the families involved. This is a tragic incident and extensive inquiries are ongoing at the scene this morning," said Lightowler.

Resident Julie Farmer, who lives on the street behind where the crash took place, said the bang sounded "like a Russian bomb".

She told the BBC: "It was just before 19:00 GMT and I heard this massive bang, it made me feel sick - I knew it must have been an accident.

"I immediately thought of my own children and rang them to check if it wasn't them."

After Farmer went to see what had happened, she described seeing "at least five ambulances", a police helicopter and the fire brigade.

Farmer also said it is not the first time there has been a bad accident on the road.

"Something needs to be done, speed bumps or something as people drive down this road way too fast - maybe because it goes from 50mph to 30mph quite quickly," she said.

"It's just awful, so sad, when I went home I cried."

Sean Wheeler, 42, said he and his partner were among the first people on the scene having heard a loud bang while sitting at home.

"We looked each other like 'what was that?' Then we went out to the yard looked down couldn't see owt so decided to go out of the gate down to the bottom of the road.

"I saw a van pull over and his tyres were going flat because all the glass were making his tyres pop and at that point I couldn't really see anything so I got around the corner and there was a car overturned."

He approached the BMW as a paramedic, who happened to be travelling along the road, and midwife from a neighbouring home joined them.

He said he assisted the paramedic by bringing towels from his home, while his partner helped a casualty from the BMW.

"I can't describe what I saw, it's unreal."

His partner's daughter Eva, 17, said the incident had made her worried about learning to drive.

"It's affected a lot of people and it makes it scary for me to start driving," she said.

"It's just a bit scary because there's always something on this road. It would be like late at night or just as the sun's setting and you can hear people speeding up and down."

Macauley Fisher, who said he grew up with the men killed in the crash, was visiting the scene to pay tribute.

He said: "They are three men with hearts of gold - beautiful inside and out - such a joy to be around, I'm heartbroken, I've lost three of my brothers.

"I went to nursery with them, school, played football with them. I'm in shock, I just want to curl up in a ball."

Shane Taylor, councillor for Illingworth and Mixenden, urged the public not to speculate while a police investigation was ongoing.

"My thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends of those who lost their lives, but I would also like to commend the emergency services for their rapid response to the situation," he said.

"I urge the public not to speculate as to the cause of the incident and allow the police to continue with their investigation."