Flares Set Off and Balloons Released as Hundreds Gather After A66 Crash

Seven people were killed early on Saturday after a car was driven the wrong way on a dual carriageway near Middlesbrough, England. Two of those who died were police officers: PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38. They were hit by a Volkswagen Passat that had been chased by police and was traveling the wrong way on the A66 road. The crash happened in an area called South Bank, and communities across the region have been left grieving.

The five people inside the Volkswagen also died at the scene. They were Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, and Jacob Matusiak, 23. Four of them had previous criminal convictions and were believed to be connected to another car that was seen ramming buildings earlier that morning. All five were officially pronounced dead at the crash site.

Police said they started the chase after getting information about many incidents linked to the Passat. The car had triggered an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera, which reads license plates and checks them against a database. The Passat was using cloned number plates — fake copies of real plates — but the camera still detected it. PC Blades and PC Clough were not part of the original chase but had been called in to help search for the car.

On Monday, a silent prayer vigil was held at St John the Evangelist Church in South Bank. Around 200 people also gathered at a nearby field to release balloons and pay tribute to those who died. Young people wearing masks arrived on scooters, off-road bikes, and quad bikes and drove around the field. Boys on bikes held orange and red flares that filled the sky with smoke.

Feelings at the vigil were mixed and sometimes tense. One person said Jacob Matusiak was 'somebody's son' and called the officers' deaths an accident. A woman said: 'Jakub was a lovely, caring lad and he's somebody's son and somebody's brother. He's not some scumbag who should just be written off and forgotten.' However, another person said the gathering was 'nothing but a mockery of the lives of those two policemen' and claimed they witnessed drinking, drug use, and reckless driving.

Cleveland Police arrested 12 people connected to criminal activity before the crash took place. Four were arrested on suspicion of being part of an organized crime group, and four were suspected of having a firearm. Four more were accused of possessing Class A and Class B drugs with the intent to sell them. Nine men and three women, aged 19 to 61, were also arrested during a separate weekend investigation.

Police also investigated a second car — a Volvo XC60 — that was witnessed ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area before the crash. Like the Passat, it was using cloned number plates but was tracked down using ANPR technology and later recovered in Middlesbrough. Investigators said there was no evidence that anyone filmed the events that night to post on TikTok. Flowers were left near the crash site in honor of the two officers who died.

More than £750,000 has been raised to support the families of PC Blades and PC Clough. A fundraiser set up by the Cleveland Police Federation said the money would be divided equally between both families. The federation added that it will keep providing support to those affected by the tragedy. The Independent Office for Police Conduct — the official watchdog that reviews police actions — is leading the full investigation into the crash.