THREE people have died after a car towing a caravan driving the wrong way along the M40 smashed into two cars.
Two elderly people in the Subaru Forester were killed when it crashed into the two other vehicles on the motorway, with a man in his 30s also fatally injured.
Witnesses have since recounted how they had to swerve out of the way of the SUV as it drove south on the northbound carriageway of the M40 for up to five miles yesterday.
Shocked videos filmed before the crash show motorists pulling off the motorway to avoid the car and caravan, with witnesses claiming it had foreign number plates.
But the incident ended in tragedy when the vehicle collided with a Ford Mondeo and Ford Focus - killing two people in their 80s in the Subaru and a man in his 30s in the Mondeo.
Police have today launched an investigation into the fatal crash.
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Thames Valley Police said: "Shortly before 4pm yesterday reports were received that a Subaru Forester towing a caravan was travelling in the wrong direction on the northbound carriageway of the motorway.
"The vehicle was subsequently in collision with two other cars, a Ford Mondeo and a Ford Focus."
"The driver and a passenger of the Subaru, both aged in their eighties, and the driver of the Ford Mondeo, a man in his thirties, sadly died."
Traffic queues tailed back 14 miles after the crash site near Watlington, in south Oxfordshire.
It is not clear when the car initially entered the motorway.
West Oxfordshire councillor Colin Dingwall witnessed the crash, saying: "I’ve seen a lot of things in my 50 years on the road, but never a caravan coming the wrong way up the M40.
“Luckily I and the cars near me managed to pull into the middle lane and get out of the way.
“He must have been going about 60mph. It was a car with foreign plates pulling a caravan. It didn’t look to be slowing down.
“I had about two seconds to react.”
Sonia Thomson, from Staffordshire, was driving in the outside lane of the motorway when the realised the Subaru "was just heading towards me".
Ms Thomson, who works as cabin crew for British Airways, told the Press Association the car was "going so fast" and "it was almost past me in the blink of an eye".
She said the crash happened shortly after her encounter with the car, adding: "Someone must have been looking after me because 10-20 seconds later and that could have been me."
Others spoke of their shock at seeing the caravan travelling the wrong way before the crash happened on the M40 between junction 7 and 6.
Liz Hindmarsh tweeted: "My husband had to swerve into the middle lane otherwise he’d have been hit by the caravan travelling the wrong way down the M40 in the outside (fast) lane."
Oliver Hayes said: "We also had to swerve, seemed at least 70mph driving head on in our lane at junction 8. Scary stuff...hope no fatalities."
Lucy Townson was also caught up in the incident. She wrote: "This caravan came hurtling towards me going the wrong way in the fast lane on the M40 today! Just managed to get out of its way with seconds to spare...scary stuff! Other people don’t appear to have been so lucky."
Senior investigating officer Sergeant Beth Walton, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “We are in the early stages of the investigation, in which sadly three people died and our thoughts are with their families.
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"We are in the process of contacting witnesses who provided a report to us and are grateful for their support."
The carriageway was closed while emergency services attended and resurfacing work took place. It re-opened this morning.
Anyone who witnessed the crash should call 101 quoting reference 832 (15/10).
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