Teenagers and taxi driver killed in head-on crash named locally

Three teenagers and a taxi driver who died in a head-on crash in Greater Manchester have been named locally.

A red Seat Leon collided with a Citroen C4 Picasso taxi on Wigan Road in Bolton in the early hours of Sunday, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

The driver of the Seat and two passengers, believed to be three men aged between 18 and 19, were named locally by the Bolton Council of Mosques (BCoM) as Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, Farhan Patel and Muhammad Danyaal Asghar Ali.

Mosrab Ali was also named locally and is believed to be the taxi driver, who police said is aged in his 50s.

The BCoM said in a statement that it is closely supporting the families of the victims.

Councillor Altaf Patel told the Lancashire Telegraph that the taxi driver was from Blackburn.

Formal identification of the victims is still taking place by police.

Five injured passengers have been taken to hospital.

One woman who lives on Wigan Road said she was woken by a “loud bang” and looked from her bedroom window and saw “quite a bit of debris” on the road.

She also saw a red car that was “really damaged”.

A male resident did not see what happened but heard a “car accelerating”.

Footage from a nearby property shared online showed a head-on crash, before both cars and debris were sent flying in different directions.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said on Sunday: “At around 12.50am this morning, three fire engines and the technical response unit attended a crash involving a taxi and a car on Wigan Road, Bolton.

“Firefighters arrived quickly to make the area safe and used cutting equipment to help remove people from the vehicles before passing them into the care of North West Ambulance Service.

“Greater Manchester Police assisted with cordoning the area.

“Crews were in attendance for roughly two hours.”

GMP is urging any witnesses to come forward with information.

Local councillor Ayyub Patel said the “community is very saddened by the tragic news”, saying the authorities should be left to carry out their investigations.