Taxi horror crash: Police appeal for witnesses to fatal collision that killed two

Police are today appealing for information about the latest tragedy on the region’s roads, which comes little more than a month after three pedestrians were killed after being hit by a car in Askern on Boxing Day night.

The two taxis - one a black cab and the other a minibus - were travelling in opposite directions on Great North Road in the early hours of Sunday morning when they collided close to the Mount Pleasant Hotel.

Both taxi drivers escaped with what have been described by police as ‘minor injuries’, with eight other passengers hurt.

The two women who died, who were aged 52 and 59, were in a LTI London taxi along with two men who were also in their 50s and the 61-year-old driver.

Their vehicle was travelling towards Bawtry shortly after midnight on Sunday morning when it was involved in a collision with a Fiat Scudo minibus taxi which was heading towards Doncaster.

The Fiat was carrying six passengers - three men and three women all in their 20s, with a 40-year-old man driving the vehicle.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service sent eight ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and a hazardous area response team to the crash, with East Midlands Ambulance Service sending another ambulance and rapid response vehicle as well.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said three of the most-seriously injured casualties were taken to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, with others taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were also required at the scene to help cut out two of the injured people who were trapped in one of the taxis.

The road was shut for several hours into Sunday morning as debris was cleared up and specialist investigators began examining the scene.

Police are now trying to establish how the crash happened.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Anyone who may have seen the incident or witnessed the manner of driving of either vehicle before the collision, is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 26 of 31 January 2016.”

It is the latest tragedy on the region’s roads in recent months.

In November, two teenage brothers died after a crash on the A18 High Street, near Dunsville.

In the same month, three women were killed after their vehicle was involved in a collision with another car close to Maltby Colliery.

Another motorist died after his car was in an accident on Oak Lane, Sykehouse on November 23.

Two other fatal crashes happened in early December, one in Warmsworth and the other on Thorne Road, Doncaster.

This was followed by the deaths of three people hit by an unlicensed driver as they walked home from a Boxing Day night out in Askern on December 26.