THE three people hospitalised in Saturday's tragic incident on the M5 between Junctions 14 and 15 are in 'critical but stable condition'.

Four people were killed in the collision, which involved a Mercedes box van and two cars.

The box van/lorry had been travelling along the M5 southbound carriageway and crashed through the central divider onto the northbound side, before ending up down a steep bank.

Three people - a 42-year-old woman, a 12-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl - were rushed to hospitals in Bristol and had been in a 'life-threatening condition'.

They remain in a critical but stable condition.

The lorry driver - a man in his forties from Worcestershire - was taken to hospital as a precaution and has spoken to police as part of the investigations.

Both carriageways of the M5 are now fully open once again after collisision investigations stretched on until 4.54pm today with one lane on the northbound side between junctions 15 and 14 closed.

Inspector Frazer Davey said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of all the victims of this tragic incident.

“A full investigation is being carried out into the circumstances of this collision, which involved a Mercedes box van and two cars.

“One of the victims was in a Seat Leon and three of the victims were in the second car, details of which we aren’t able to release at the moment.

“Three people – a 42-year-old woman and two children, a 12-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, remain in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

“Specially trained family liaison officers are working hard to support and locate the next of kin of all the victims. This important work is ongoing and it may be some time before formal identification procedures can be concluded.

“The driver of the lorry, a man in his forties from Worcestershire, has been spoken to and has provided us with an initial statement.

“Our investigation will involve a thorough examination of all the vehicles involved and we’re working closely with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to progress these enquiries.”

For further details on the fatal incident visit the homepage.