Three people killed in road crash

The wreckage of the two cars at the crash scene on Thursday afternoon

Two 18-year-old men and an elderly man have been killed and another young man left seriously hurt after a road crash.

One fire officer said it was one of the worst crashes he had seen in his 15-year career.

The crash happened shortly before 12.20 GMT on Thursday at Old Colwyn, Conwy,

The dead teenagers were a passenger and driver in a Citroen Saxo from the Denbigh and Colwyn Bay areas. The third victim was the driver of a Rover 25, who was from Abergele.

The road near the former Hotel Seventy Degrees was closed for a time.

Police wanted people to see the wreckage to highlight dangers on the roads.

After the incident, police allowed access to film the wreckage of the cars because they wanted to highlight potential dangers on the road.

Paul Jenkinson, operations manager for the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said it was one of the worst crashes he had seen in his 15-year career.

He said: "We had two very, very badly damaged cars in the road and we couldn't determine which way they were going - the police are carrying out a full investigation.

Unpleasant circumstances

"We have quite a lot of fatalities and it happens all too frequently in north Wales, it is very unpleasant.

"On arrival at the scene we removed the roof of the car with three people inside to make space to work."

Once the driver's body was removed, the nine firefighters could continue working to rescue the two passengers.

Mr Jenkinson added: "It was unpleasant circumstances and the crew focused on the task to get the remaining two casualties."

A North Wales Police spokeswoman confirmed the two vehicles involved in the crash were a Citroen Saxo and a Rover 25.

The spokeswoman said: "The driver and front seat passenger of the Saxo and the driver of the Rover sustained fatal injuries following the collision on Abergele Road shortly before 12.20pm today.

"The driver of the Saxo was 18-years-old and was local to the Colwyn Bay area.

"The passenger was 18-years-old and from the Denbigh area and the elderly driver of the Rover was local to the Abergele area.

"Another passenger, a young man, who was travelling in the Saxo, was taken to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Bodelwyddan with injuries believed to be serious but not life threatening," the spokeswoman added.

One of the two Citroen passengers died in the ambulance on his way to hospital.

Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.