Appeal after fatal motorway crash

Police said the van was travelling at "excessive speed"

A 31-year-old man has been killed and his 18-year-old passenger critically injured after their van crashed on the M74 motorway in South Lanarkshire.

Their badly-damaged vehicle was found on the northbound carriageway between Larkhall and Hamilton junctions at about 0435 BST on Thursday.

The 31-year-old man died at the scene. His teenage passenger was taken to Wishaw General Hospital.

Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.

Ch Insp Stewart Carle, of Strathclyde Police, said: "At this time we are keen to establish the exact circumstances of how this crash occurred and would appeal to anyone who was in the area about 0400 this morning and may have seen a white transit van travelling northbound.

'Critically ill'

"From our enquiries so far it has been established that the van was driving at an excessive speed alongside a dark coloured van shortly before the accident occurred.

"I would appeal to the driver of this van to come forward or to members of the public who saw two vans driving at speed on the M74 early this morning.

"A young man has died and another is critically ill, and for the family's sake we need to establish what has happened."

The northbound carriageway between Larkhall and Hamilton was closed for several hours following the crash. It re-opened just before 1200 BST on Thursday.