Witnesses sought to fatal Shropshire collisions
Police investigating two fatal road crashes in Shropshire over the weekend, today appealed for witnesses to come forward.
A 60-year-old man died when the box van he was driving left the A5 and went down an embankment near Oswestry during the early hours of Saturday.
And a 46-year-old motorcyclist died following a collision with a Ford Transit on the A49 at Dorrington, near Shrewsbury yesterday afternoon.
The victims have yet to be named but are both believed to be from Shropshire.
West Mercia Police collision investigators are continuing to investigate the circumstances of both incidents and have appealed for witnesses to make contact.
A police spokesperson said today: “The Shropshire coroner Mr John Ellery has been informed and inquests will be opened in due course.
“Investigations are continuing into the events leading up to both these tragedies and anyone who saw either collision, or the vehicles involved shortly beforehand, is asked to contact Shrewsbury police station by calling 101.”
No other vehicle was involved in the first incident on the A5 at around 4.45am on Saturday. The box van was travelling from the direction of Mile End roundabout, near Oswestry towards Shrewsbury when it left the road on its offside, going down an embankment and coming to rest in a copse of trees.
It was discovered by a local police patrol and the driver – the only occupant – was pronounced dead at the scene.
Yesterday’s collision on the A49 at Dorrington happened at around 12.30pm. It involved a black Aprilia Shiver GT 750 motorcycle and a red Ford Transit.
The motorcyclist was travelling south towards Church Stretton accompanied by three other motorcycles when involved in a collision with a Transit van heading in the opposite direction towards Shrewsbury. He was airlifted to the University Hospital North Staffordshire in Stoke but died shortly after arriving.
The driver of the van was taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital with shock.
Police have issued a specific appeal for the driver of a dark coloured car, possibly a VW Golf, which was travelling in the same direction as the motorcyclist, to get in touch. Its driver was flashing headlights as a warning to oncoming traffic about the collision and may have seen it happen.
Post mortems will be held over the next few days.
