Brit Indian Sikh driver admits killing passenger, lorry driver in fog-related smash
London, Jan. 16 (ANI)
An Indian-origin bus driver has admitted to causing the deaths of two men killed in a horrific motorway crash after he parked on a carriageway moments before a lorry ploughed into it in the UK.
Jasminder Singh Dhesi, 50, who will be sentenced next month, was arrested in March last year after a coach carrying fruit-pickers was struck by a lorry on the M5 near Birmingham.
According to the Daily Mail, lorry driver William Mapstone, from Wells in Somerset, died in hospital after the collision, while a passenger on the Volvo coach, Liaquat Ali, also suffered fatal injuries.
Dhesi was driving along the inside lane of the southbound M5, near Frankley Services, in thick fog when he started having problems with the single-decker bus he was driving, the report said.
A court heard he continued on with his journey regardless, despite the vehicle only being able to reach a top speed of 26mph, the report said.
The coach then broke down for a third time 10 minutes later and Dhesi parked it in the slow lane of the southbound carriageway between junctions 3 and 4.
Moments later a lorry ploughed into the back of the stranded vehicle killing the truck driver and a coach passenger.
The Central Motorway Police Group was alerted to the crash at 6.24 am and emergency crews treated more than 39 passengers.
Seven ambulances attended the scene following the crash and the southbound M5 was closed for around eight hours.
Father-of-three Liaquat Ali, 35, from Smethwick, West Midlands, who was a passenger on the coach carrying fruit-pickers, was also confirmed dead at the scene.
Wearing a grey suit with a purple turban, Dhesi showed little emotion as he was warned he almost certainly faced prison.
Judge Peter Carr bailed Dhesi and ordered him to return to court on February 12 for sentencing, the report added.