Appeal after motorway crash deaths

It was raining heavily when the accident happened

Two people died and three others are in hospital after a car crashed down an embankment off a south Wales motorway.

The black Mercedes containing five people, who were all originally from Iraq left the carriageway as it was bypassing Newport en route to Cardiff just after 1930 GMT on Saturday.

One person was pronounced dead at the scene while the remaining four were taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, where a second person was confirmed dead.

The survivors were treated at Royal Gwent

The others, who include the driver, are not believed to have life-threatening injuries and were able to walk free from the collision.

They were kept in hospital overnight and one has undergone surgery for a head injury.

Passengers

All five people were originally from Iraq, police have said.

Senior Inspecting Officer Simon Prince said much of their information had been gathered through interpreters as the five people involved spoke little English.

"We know that the men who died have been living in Cardiff.

"One is from a National Asylum Seekers hostel.

"Without positive identification we are unable to name the man and at this stage, we are unable to trace their relatives," he said.

"At the moment there are two main strands to our inquiry.

Raining

"We are working closely with the immigration service to establish and trace the families of the two men, and our officers are working on the cause of the accident."

The westbound carriageway of the M4 was closed for several hours between junctions 26 and 27 on Saturday evening while emergency services were in attendance.

The car was reported to have travelled from Birmingham.

At the time of the accident, it was raining heavily and the Mercedes was in the outside lane overtaking a Landrover.

Any witnesses to the accident are asked to contact Gwent Police on 01633 838111.