Council issue statement after Bolton crash raises concerns among residents
The authority said it is 'committed to ensuring that all necessary measures are taken to assist those impacted'
Bolton council has issued a statement following a ‘devastating’ horror crash which saw four lives lost on Wigan Road on Sunday.
The authority said it is ‘committed to ensuring that all necessary measures are taken to assist those impacted’, and that it will ‘review any factors that may have contributed to this tragedy’.
The response comes as ‘concerned residents’ launched a campaign for average speed cameras and increased enforcement on the the road where three teenagers and a taxi driver died and five others were seriously injured in the crash.
Earlier this week a video clip emerged of a driver appearing to hit speeds of more than 120mph which is ‘forming part of the police investigation’ into the fatal crash. It appears to show a car travelling at high-speed with the driver overtaking other cars and veering onto the wrong side of the road.
At one point in the clip, the car appears to reach a speed of 122mph. It is understood that the video is believed to have been filmed early on Saturday by an occupant of the Seat Leon involved in the fatal crash on Wigan Road on Sunday.
The brother of the teenage driver, Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, who died in the head-on crash in Bolton reportedly told him to ‘be smarter’ behind the wheel after he ‘flipped his car just weeks before’ the fatal incident.
A petition titled ‘Install speed cameras and safety measures on Wigan Road, Bolton’ was launched in the past 48 hours. At 10am on Thursday, January 15 it had 500 signatures on the change.org site.
The ‘devastating’ crash happened on Wigan Road at around 12.45am on Sunday (January 12). A red Seat Leon collided with a Citroen C4 Picasso taxi in a head-on smash.
Three teenagers – driver Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, 18, Farhan Patel, 18, and 19-year-old Mohammed Danyaal, who were in the Seat, were killed.
A taxi driver, 54-year-old Masrob Ali, who was driving the Citroen, also lost his life.
The Bolton council statement was read by Coun Rabiya Jiva to a hushed chamber at the start of a full council meeting on Wednesday. She said: “This is an unimaginable loss for our community, and we stand united in grief and support during this difficult time.
“The council is working closely with the emergency services and relevant authorities to understand the circumstances surrounding the collision.
“We understand Greater Manchester Road Safety partnership will undertake a detailed review into this incident, and as a council, we are committed to action any recommendations that come from it.
“This will take place within the coming weeks. “GMP are continuing with their investigations and will provide regular updates.”
The Wigan Road petition urges the council and police to take urgent action to improve safety. The petition, instigated by ‘concerned Wigan Road residents’ said it is a ‘stretch of road that has seen repeated serious accidents and, most tragically, multiple fatalities’.
The petition said: “We are calling to urgently install speed cameras and appropriate road safety measures on Wigan Road following repeated serious accidents and the tragic loss of life.
“Over the past five years, there have been dozens of road traffic accidents, many of which local residents have repeatedly raised with the council.
“Despite ongoing concerns about speeding, dangerous driving, and lack of enforcement, no effective preventative action has been taken. “On Sunday, this failure had devastating consequences when four people were killed and five others were seriously injured in a single collision.
“This tragedy has left families grieving, individuals seriously harmed, and the wider community traumatised — and it was not unforeseeable.”
The petition calls for the installation of speed or average-speed cameras, increased enforcement, a full road-safety review of Wigan Road and additional traffic-calming measures where appropriate.”