Car involved in fatal taxi crash ‘seen speeding at 120mph hours before’

Footage shows the moment a car involved in a fatal crash allegedly reached 120mph on a residential road just 24 hours before three teenagers and a cab driver were killed in a head-on collision.

The Instagram clip, uploaded by one of the three teenagers who died in Sunday’s collision, shows the interior of a Seat Leon crashing into a private hire car in Bolton on Saturday morning.

The crash also left five others needing hospital treatment with a family friend of one of the teenagers branding the video ‘stupid’.

Two passengers and the driver of the Seat, Muhammad Danyaal, 19, Farhan Patel and Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, both aged 18, were all killed in the crash.

Taxi driver Masrob Ali, 54, from Blackburn, was also killed with his daughter Humayra Ali describing him as a ‘safe driver’.

She told Lancs Live: ‘It’s clear that my dad wasn’t at fault and didn’t do anything wrong,’ she added.

‘My first thought was how scared my father must have been in that one split moment before his life was lost.’

In the Citroen Mr Ali was driving, a 29-year-old woman suffered potentially life-threatening injuries.

A 28-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man suffered serious injuries and a 29-year-old man has minor injuries.

An 18-year-old man, who was a passenger in the Seat, remains in hospital with minor injuries.

One local resident who saw the aftermath of the accident told The Bolton News: ‘I can’t believe it.

‘I heard the loudest bang and I saw them doing CPR on the person who was in the car accident.’

He added: ‘I seen the taxi driver’s passenger, a woman get out the taxi and there were two other people who was in the taxi unconscious.’

DI Andrew Page said the force was still working to establish what caused the ‘terrible’ crash.

He said: ‘As an investigation team we would encourage people to be mindful of sharing footage on social media given the impact this will have on all the families involved in such a tragic incident. Sharing such footage could constitute a criminal offense. 

‘Thanks to patrols in the area, teams were able to get to the incident location quickly to what was a particularly challenging scene for colleagues in the emergency services.

‘The scene closed on Sunday evening, but we are still appealing for any witnesses to come forward. Anyone who saw the vehicle driving before the collision, witnessed the incident itself, or has dashcam/ CCTV footage of the incident can share it with us.’

Chief Inspector Helen McCormick added: ‘This was a devastating incident for all those involved, none more so than the families of the deceased.

‘This was a particularly challenging scene for colleagues in the emergency services, and I want to thank first responders from our Bolton district and road policing unit of GMP, as well as the fire service and ambulance service, for all their hard work through the night and into today.’

She added: ‘This is a tragic reminder of the importance of safety on our roads across Greater Manchester and here in Bolton, where plenty of work has been done and continues to try and ensure our roads are safe for all.

‘We have massively reduced the number of serious and fatal collisions in Bolton. But we have all got much more to do.

‘One incident is one too many and this will do nothing to bring back the four lives affected. My thoughts are with everyone affected.’

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