Four men dead after car crashes into lamp-post

Four men have died after a car hit a lamp-post on Merseyside, police have said.

The car left the road and crashed on Liverpool Road, Huyton, just before 02:00 BST.

The men, two aged 23, and two others, aged 24 and 26, died at the scene, Merseyside Police said.

A 27-year-old man who was a passenger inside the vehicle has been taken to hospital and is in a stable condition, the force added.

The black Seat Cupra had been travelling from Liverpool towards Knowsley before it came off the road and hit the lamp-post.

Eleven roads in the area have been closed, including Liverpool Road and East Prescot Road, from the junction of Princess Drive and Finch Lane while police carry out their investigations.

The closures are likely to remain in place over the weekend, the force said.

Supt Paul Holden of Merseyside Police said the force's priority was to get answers for the families of those affected over how the crash occurred.

He said: "We know this happened very early this morning, but if anyone saw what happened or were driving through the area just before the incident occurred then please get in touch."

Tony Butler, who lives on Coulport Close, said his wife had woken up early and heard what she thought was a lorry turning over.

He said he had left the car outside the cordon by some local shops as police are not letting cars into the estate.

"It's a terrible thing, I don't know the full details of it, not taking away from the criticality of it all, but obviously there's a big impact to the community as we can't get in and out back to our homes."

He said there had been a few incidents in the area and admitted road safety had been a problem.

Tyler Montague who lives on Dinas Lane with Ayla Kirchner, said it sounded like a "petrol tank had exploded" and they could smell fuel in their house.

Kirchner said she heard what she described as "rubble falling" after a big explosion at about 02:00 BST.

"We came out to see what happened, and a lot had happened."

They said they saw half a car, and another half of a car scattered down the road, but did not see where the accident had happened.

Georgina, 63, lives on Stonefield Road, she said there are always accidents in that area.

She said: "The road is dangerous, there's always accidents, we're always seeing cars mashed and everything, so they need to sort it out."

Corina Thomas who lives nearby told BBC Radio Merseyside said she heard helicopters in the area "at about two in the morning".

"It woke me up and it was hovering here, and just coming round and checking the area."

Maurice Ramerez, 39, said he heard an explosion late at night and did not think it was a crash.

He said the community is scared and people are thinking "maybe my children will not be safe".

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