Heartbroken families pay tribute to two teenagers killed when Nissan ploughed into crowd during late night 'car meet'
22 November 2022, 20:09
Loved one have paid tribute to two teenagers who were killed at a car meet after a vehicle crashed into the crowd during a late-night 'car meet'.
Liberty Charris, 16, and Ben Corfield, 19, were confirmed dead at the scene in Oldbury, West Midlands, on Sunday night.
The heartbroken families of the two teens have since offered touching tributes.
In a statement, Liberty's family said: "With your heart of gold, bright blue eyes and beaming smile, your aim in life was to make everyone happy, with your funny accents and loud laugh."
Ben's family added: "What can we say other than Ben was the light of our lives.
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"He was a larger than life character with a huge heart that was made of gold."
West Midlands Police said it was understood a blue Nissan Skyline struck a number of pedestrians at around 11.30pm while they gathered to watch street racing.
A 54-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remained in police custody today.
A man and woman in their 20s were also rushed to hospital following the horror crash having sustained life-threatening injuries, The Sun reported.
A witness said yesterday he was in the 200-strong crowd that had gathered for the 'car meet' last night.
He said: "We moved over to Oldbury. We were standing on a corner and there was a bush and we couldn't see a lot.
"The driver had gone down the road and lost control and went into a load of people. It was horrific."
Speaking about the crash, the West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "On arrival crews discovered five patients.
"The first and second were a man and a teenage girl, who were pedestrians, in a critical condition.
"Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of ambulance staff, it became clear that nothing more could be done to save them and they were confirmed deceased at the scene.
"Two more pedestrians, a woman and a man had sustained life-threatening injuries.
"They received advanced trauma care from ambulance staff at the scene and en route to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
"The fifth, the driver of the car was assessed by ambulance staff at the scene.
"He had sustained non-life threatening injuries and was discharged at the scene."
Locals have said the area has become notorious for illegal car racing, with onlookers gathering to watch.
A resident told the outlet: "The road is a magnet for car cruising because it's a very long, mostly straight road and they really get some speed up.
"It's an absolute tragedy to find out what's happened.
"It's an absolute tragedy to find out what's happened.
"I think the police, as stretched as they are, really need to try and do more to clamp down on it before more people are killed."
Det Sgt Paul Hughes, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This is a tragic incident and our thoughts remain with all the families affected.
"We have specialist family liaison officers supporting them at this terrible time.
"We know that there were lots of people who had gathered in the area at the time of the collision and would have witnessed what happened.
"I would urge those people to get in touch if they haven’t already done so.
"This is very distressing for the families affected and it’s not appropriate for them to see things that could upset them on social media.
"I want to thank everyone who has provided a statement so far, and ask anyone else with dashcam footage or any other witnesses to contact us."
Police have asked anyone with any information to email FL_COLLISION_INVEST@westmidlands.police.uk, message Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight, or call 101. Quote log number 3732 of 20 November.
