Two People Arrested After Young Girl Dies In M61 Crash

8 July 2019, 06:43 | Updated: 8 July 2019, 07:07

Lancashire Police have arrested a man and a woman from West Yorkshire on suspicion of dangerous driving.

The crash happened at around 10.45pm on Saturday night, when a Vauxhall Corsa collided with a Nissan Qashqai around a mile from junction eight for Chorley.

A passenger in the car, 12-year-old Sana Patel from Blackburn, sadly died as a result.

The occupants of the Vauxhall Corsa fled the scene on foot.

Police have arrested a 23-year-old woman from Mirefield on suspicion of death by dangerous driving. A 28-year-old man from Dewsbury was later arrested on suspicion of death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident. Both remain in custody.

Police are still appealing for anybody who saw the crash to get in touch as soon as possible. We are also urging anybody who was in the Corsa at the time of the collision to make contact with us.

Det Supt Andy Cribbin, of Lancashire Police: “This was a tragic incident in which 12-year-old Sana Patel lost her life and our thoughts are very much with her family and friends at his unimaginably difficult time.

“We have now made two arrests but are very much still trying to establish what happened and are asking anybody who saw the collision or either vehicle in the moments before it happened to get in touch as soon as possible.

“We would also like to speak to anyone who was in the Corsa at the time and would urge them to make contact with us.”

Anyone with information is asked to get in touch on 101, quoting log number 1817 of July 6th.