Five killed in car plunge

The car fell 40ft over the crash barrier

Five people have been killed after a car plunged 40ft from a road intersection and ended up on its roof.

Firefighters say they arrived at the Leeds city inner ring road at 0150 BST on Wednesday to find the grey Vauxhall Cavalier severely crushed.

It was discovered on an exit road which leads from the A64, near to the Ventura Call Handling Centre.

Station Officer Chris Rose, from Gipton Fire Station, said witnesses had told him the car was being driven at "ridiculous speeds".

Car crushed

He said: "When we got there it was literally pancaked. It was very nasty.

"If you could imagine where the windows are on a car, they just weren't there any more.

"It was crushed right down to the bottom of the windows."

The driver of the car was taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he died, while the four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene.

A West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said the victims had not yet been identified but confirmed three of them were female and two were male.

The spokeswoman said: "All the victims are believed to be aged between 18 and their mid-twenties and all are believed to be from the Leeds area."

Police are trying to arrange formal identification of the bodies and are contacting the next of kin.