Two killed in M6 tanker collision

One casualty was taken to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham

Two people have been killed and one seriously injured in an accident on the M6 motorway.

Both carriageways were closed after a lorry, a car and a tanker carrying acid collided on the slip road at junction 11 southbound about 1230 BST on Friday.

Staffordshire Fire Service say about 1,800 litres of a phosphoric acid, used in fertiliser manufacture, leaked.

The southbound lanes remained closed into Saturday morning, but the northbound carriageway was reopened.

Trapped underneath

One casualty, a man believed to be in his 30s, was taken to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham with multiple injuries by air ambulance.

A fire service spokeswoman said a HGV lorry crashed into a car and the vehicle became trapped underneath the lorry.

Around 1,800 litres of corrosive acid leaked onto the road. As part of the clean-up operation, it was sucked up by another tanker which was then taken away and disposed of.

Up to 50 firefighters and special chemical units were called to the scene.

The northbound carriageway was closed between junction 10a and junction 11 after the incident but reopened.

The southbound carriageway is still closed between junction 11 and Hilton Park Services.

Delays occured around Cannock, Featherstone and Great Wyrley.

The two people who were killed and the person who was injured have not yet been named.