By TOM JACKSON Photos: MARGARET BISHOP A MEMBER of a coach trip returning to the Fens after a day trip to Bedfordshire told today how their bus was minutes away from being involved in the horrific smash which killed three Eastern European workers. The c

By TOM JACKSON

Photos: MARGARET BISHOP

A MEMBER of a coach trip returning to the Fens after a day trip to Bedfordshire told today how their bus was minutes away from being involved in the horrific smash which killed three Eastern European workers.

The coach was carrying volunteers who help out at March Museum, mostly stewards, and they were caught up in the traffic jams on the A141 after last night's collision which left three men dead and two more fighting for their lives.

"Someone said to me that, if we were two minutes earlier, we were involved," said Margaret Bishop, who took these dramatic photos shortly after the accident.

"At first we really did not take any notice of it, we thought it was just a traffic jam because of road works.

"But people at the front of the bus could then see the accident - and it was then we realised it was something much worse.

"At the time the emergency services were not there, but after a few minutes we saw a few police cars arrive and the police helicopter with some paramedics land on the road in front of us."

The coach was held at the scene for about 45 minutes until police were satisfied that nobody on board had witnessed the collision. People were given the chance to get off the coach and get some fresh air before they were allowed to leave the scene.

However, Mrs Bishop said a number of cars that were in front of the coach turned around before the police arrived.

She added: "There was a lorry which was in front of us that reversed back towards Chatteris and somehow managed to turn around. I can remember everyone clapped him because he completed it without hitting anything."

Mrs Bishop also said the driver of the skip lorry, a 58-year-old man from Chelmsford, sat behind the wheel of the Scania for more than half an hour after the collision.

She said: "He just sat in his lorry wearing sunglasses. He was very dazed and was definitely in shock.

"At first I did not see anyone come up to him, but I remember him getting in the back of an ambulance."

Yesterday's collision on the A141 Isle Of Ely Way, close to Dock Bridge, happened at about 6.50pm and involved a silver Toyota Emina Estina the blue-and-white skip lorry.

Seven people were on-board the Toyota, all of them are believed to be from Eastern Europe.

Three men travelling in the Toyota were killed. Police have not released their details.

Two more people travelling in the Toyota, a 38-year-old and a 17-year-old both from Wisbech, suffered serious injuries and are currently in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

Two further men, both aged 28 and from Wisbech, suffered minor injuries and were taken to Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon.

The driver of the lorry, a 58-year-old man from Chelmsford in Essex, suffered minor injuries.

The A141 was closed for eight hours last night, reopening at 3am today (Friday).

Pc Tim Kirkby, who is investigating the collision, said: "I would like to hear from anyone who was on that stretch of road last night and witnessed the collision or saw either vehicle in the moments leading up to the collision.

"Any information, no matter how small, could prove invaluable in determining what happened."

Magpas doctor Karim Harmad and paramedic John Horton were flown to the scene by helicopter from RAF Wyton and worked with on-the-ground paramedics to treat and free the injured.

Fire crews from Manea and Chatteris, and a rescue vehicle from Huntingdon, were called and used their specialist equipment to rescue two of the men trapped in the Toyota.

CONTACT: Pc Kirkby, of the roads policing unit, on 0845 456 4564.