Five youngsters who died after their car drove the wrong way down a major A-road and crashed into a police car have been pictured.
The five in the Passat have been named locally as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 16, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18.
PC Matthew Blades, 38, and PC Tom Clough, 37, were also killed after the Volkswagen Passat smashed into their marked police car on the A66 near Middlesbrough.
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Saddington had allegedly previously posted several videos on TikTok which appear to show him a high-speed police chase.
One video seems to show the teens driving through a housing estate with a police car following them with its blue lights flashing.
The Audi can then be seen careering onto a grassy field in an attempt to shake off the chase.
Other images also show Saddington and a friend in black balaclavas posing in a car.
The collision occurred shortly after 3.30am, after the police spotted the Passat acting ‘suspiciously’ and began a high-speed chase.
The vehicle was believed to be using cloned plates, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said.
Officers pursued the car through Middlesbrough but called off the chase when the Passat joined the A66.
The car then ploughed into a marked police car, which was driving in the correct direction and was not part of the initial pursuit.
Ring doorbell footage published online, which appears to have been taken on Lime Road minutes before the crash, shows a car being driven at speed down a residential road and being followed by police cars.
Cleveland Police Chief Constable Victoria Fuller confirmed the identities of the dead officers as PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38.
‘This is an incredibly sad day for Cleveland,’ she said in a press conference outside Cleveland Police headquarters in Hemlington, Middlesbrough, where flags are flying at half-mast.
‘These were brave officers protecting our communities and serving our residents who didn’t return home to their families at the end of their shift.’
It is now mandatory that the incident be referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Fuller stated that the force will comply fully with the investigation.
Cleveland police and crime commissioner Matt Storey called the crash ‘tragic’, adding: ‘There are few words that can bring comfort to the family, friends and colleagues of the seven people who have lost their lives.’
Cleveland Police Federation chairwoman Lauren Somerville also said: ‘Our colleagues who should have been going home to their loved ones at the end of their shifts are not. And that is just unfathomable.’
Local Redcar MP Anna Turley has said the ‘whole community is reeling’ after the crash.
She told Sky News: ‘The most important thing for all of us now is not to speculate on the build-up to this or any of the incidents around this.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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