A trucker suffered fatal injuries in the second of two accidents within an hour on the same stretch of the A1 near Pontefract yesterday morning. (Oct 18)
The male lorry driver died following the collision in the early hours between Barnsdale Bar and Wentbridge.
The A1 was closed all day in both directions between junctions 39 and 40, causing traffic chaos in the Pontefract area and beyond.
Emergency services were called to the southbound section of the motorway at Darrington at about 3.55am following reports a lorry had jackknifed and hit the central reservation.
It left the southbound carriageway and came to rest on the central reservation, protruding into lane two of the northbound carriageway.
The driver of that lorry sustained minor injuries.
At 4.45am police were alerted to a second incident around half-a-mile away on the A1 northbound between Barnsdale Bar and Wentbridge, where three lorries had collided.
The male driver of one of the lorries was seriously injured and later died.
Insp Dorian James of West Yorkshire Police, said: “Three HGVs in a line shunted into each other and hit a car in front. We believe they were stationary or in slow moving traffic, potentially as a result of the other incident.”
Insp James said the dead man’s next of kin have been informed but his identity has not yet been released. Witnesses are asked to call police on 101.