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A van driver and passenger were killed when a lorry crashed through a motorway central reservation in West Yorkshire.

The lorry was travelling east on the M62 when it ploughed through the barrier, hitting the van and a mobile crane on the opposite carriageway.

Police said the lorry driver was badly injured and several others suffered minor injuries in the rush-hour crash.

Part of the M62 between Leeds and Bradford was closed both ways for more than 12 hours, causing disruption.


The first thing we heard was nothing, which woke us up because we're so used to the traffic noise

Anne Fox, local resident
West Yorkshire Police said in total six vehicles were involved in the collision.

The 56-year-old van driver and his passenger, who both died, were travelling in a Fiat Ducato.

The lorry driver, a 50-year-old man from Halifax, was taken to Leeds General Infirmary.

'Traffic noise'



The lorry hit the van after crashing through the central barrier
Anne Fox, who lives near the crash scene, said: "The first thing we heard was nothing, which woke us up because we're so used to the traffic noise."

She then walked on to a nearby motorway bridge, where some stranded lorry drivers told her what had happened minutes earlier.

"They said the big lorry came through to the other side of the motorway and smashed into the red van," she said.

One commuter, from Pontefract, said he had been stuck on the motorway for six hours.

He told BBC News: "I've seen some people getting out of cars for breaks, others have broken down on the hard shoulder and needed roadside assistance.

"I set off from near junction 32 six hours ago - I joined the queue at junction 29 - and have moved two miles in five-and-a-half hours."

The disruption to traffic was exacerbated by another incident involving a man falling from a bridge on to the M62 between junction 30 for Rothwell and junction 31 for Castleford.

Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.