Sky News halts for tragic death announcement in devastating breaking news
BREAKING: Two police officers are among seven dead in the A66 crash near Middlesbrough.
The crash involved a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat on the A66 and triggered a "significant" emergency response. @BarnabyPap | https://t.co/3cFWiYe2lu
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Sky News was interrupted for a devastating breaking news update as Leah Boleto announced several deaths. The presenter confirmed that seven people, including two police officers, have died in a A66 crash near Middlesbrough. An emergency response was triggered when a crash occurred involving a police vehicle and a Volkswagen Passat on the A66.
The Sky News host said: "Local MP Anna Turley has said that two of the seven people who have lost their lives were Cleveland Police officers. She says that her heart goes out to every family, friend and loved one facing unimaginable loss at this time." Sharing further details on the tragic incident, correspondent Barnaby Papadopoulos explained: "Up until this point, we didn't actually know how many fatalities there had been as a result of this crash on the A66 outskirts of Middlesborough.
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"We had been told by police and North East ambulance service that there were multiple fatalities, that they had been pronounced dead at the scene by members of the ambulance service."
"Now we know that seven people have died as a result of this crash, two of whom were Cleveland Police officers."
He said that earlier today, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) revealed that Cleveland Police saw a suspicious vehicle last night and pursued it.
The vehicle – a Volkswagen Passat – then collided with a police car.
Papadopoulos continued: "Based on the information we've got from Anna Turley, I think we can assume that perhaps as many as five people were in that Volkswagen and they died when it collided with a police car.
"Anna Turley goes on to say, 'I cannot begin to imagine how difficult this has been for the emergency services responding to such a devastating incident.' She goes on to thank all the members of the emergency services who were involved."
The Sky News correspondent described the "huge" scale of the operation, revealing that 14 ambulances were dispatched to the scene this morning.
Viewers were shown aerial pictures of the aftermath of the collision, which showed the vehicles completely smashed to pieces.
"They illustrate the extent of the damage here. We can still see emergency responders on the ground. It looks like a police tent has been set up, as always is in incidents such as these. Perhaps some wreckage covered by tarpaulin there, and debris across the road," Papadopoulos added.