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Four Killed in Bolton Head-On Crash
Four people were killed and five injured after a red Seat Leon collided head-on with a taxi on Wigan Road in Bolton in the early hours of Sunday, prompting an ongoing police investigation.
The crash happened after midnight in Bolton/Screengrab
Four people have been killed and five others injured following a head-on collision between a car and a taxi in the early hours of Sunday in Greater Manchester, police said.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said a red Seat Leon collided with a Citroen C4 Picasso taxi on Wigan Road in Bolton at around 12.45am. Three men travelling in the Seat Leon died at the scene, including the driver. Two of the victims were aged 18 and one was 19. The driver of the taxi, a man in his 50s, was also killed.
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The three teenagers were named by the Bolton Council of Mosques (BcoM) as Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, Farhan Patel and Muhammad Danyaal Asghar Ali. The taxi driver was identified locally as Mosrab Ali.
In a statement, the BcoM said it was closely supporting the families of the young men who died in the crash.
Five other passengers were injured and taken to hospital, where they are receiving treatment. Their conditions have not been disclosed.
Images from the scene showed both vehicles badly mangled, with debris strewn across the road as officers from GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit examined the crash site. Doorbell camera footage from nearby homes appeared to show the red Seat Leon travelling on the wrong side of the road moments before colliding head-on with the taxi. After the impact, the Seat Leon rolled across the carriageway and struck a red Peugeot parked nearby.
One neighbor, whose wife owned the parked Peugeot, said the aftermath was devastating.
“It looks like the other car was travelling on the wrong side of the road and it’s gone straight into the taxi,” he said. “After hitting the taxi, the other car spun over to the other side of the road and hit my wife’s car.”
He added that accidents were common on Wigan Road and said he had previously called on the council to install traffic-calming measures such as speed bumps.
His sister, who lives next door and did not wish to be named, said she was woken by a loud bang shortly before 1am.
“It was chaos,” she said. “Both cars were badly smashed up, and it was obvious there had been a bad crash. Emergency services arrived very quickly and I could see paramedics performing CPR on injured people.”
She said firefighters had to cut people out of the red car and described the scene as “pretty horrific,” adding that her own parked car had previously been written off in another crash on the same road.
Other residents told the Manchester Evening News that the road was frequently used by speeding drivers and that serious collisions were not uncommon.
“It’s really bad. It’s dangerous,” one resident said.
Ch Insp Helen McCormick of GMP said formal identification was ongoing and described the incident as a stark reminder of road safety concerns.
“This is a tragic reminder of the importance of safety on our roads across Greater Manchester and here in Bolton,” she said. “We have massively reduced the number of serious and fatal collisions in Bolton, but we have all got much more to do. One incident is one too many.”
Councilor Ayyub Patel, who represents the Rumworth ward, denied online speculation that the crash was linked to a police pursuit.
“I have spoken directly with officers, who have confirmed that no police or other authorities were involved,” he said. “This was an unfortunate and deeply distressing incident.”
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said three fire engines and a technical response unit attended the scene at around 12.50am.
“Firefighters arrived quickly to make the area safe and used cutting equipment to help remove people from the vehicles before passing them into the care of Northwest Ambulance Service,” the spokesperson said. Crews remained at the scene for roughly two hours.
As officers secured the cordon and managed the investigation in the early hours, policing sources noted the importance of modern, practical equipment for frontline response from collision investigation tools to everyday duty gear such as secure restraint carriers like the High Speed Gear HSGI Kydex Handcuff Taco, which allows officers to safely and quickly access restraints during critical incidents while keeping hands free to manage scenes like this one.
GMP said its Serious Collision Investigation Unit is appealing for witnesses and information.
“At around 12.45am, officers attended Wigan Road, Bolton, where a red Seat Leon was travelling down the road and collided with a Citroen C4 Picasso,” GMP said. “The driver of the Seat, and two passengers, have tragically died following the collision. The driver of the Citroen was also sadly pronounced dead at the scene.”
Police said inquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.
Editor’s Note:
This article reports on a fatal road traffic collision in Bolton, Greater Manchester, that claimed four lives and left five others injured. Details are based on statements from Greater Manchester Police, emergency services, local officials, and witnesses, and reflect information available at the time of reporting.
