The public should take as many precautions as they can once they've got out of a vehicle

Sergeant Steve Burns

Officers from North Yorkshire Police investigating the crash urged people to think of their own safety in such situations.

Sergeant Steve Burns said the whole tragedy of the incident was that three people became victims themselves because they went to help.

"They've acted like anyone in those circumstances would have acted - they've gone to their assistance," he said.

"You've got fast-moving traffic on motorways and people should take as much care as they think fit."

Lorry driver arrested

A lorry driver was arrested following the accident.

The tragedy happened at the southbound junction 48 of the A1 between Dishforth and Boroughbridge.

At a press conference in Harrogate on Sunday, Sgt Burns said the chain of events began after a Vauxhall Carlton containing four people from Leeds lost control and collided with central reservation.

North Yorkshire Police are investigating

He said the car overturned and came to rest on the hard shoulder, where the badly injured driver managed to get out.

A removal lorry then parked behind the car and the driver, from Cheshire, went to help the occupants while his colleague warned oncoming drivers about the collision.

A Range Rover stopped in front of the car and the occupants, a married couple from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, also got out to help the injured, he said.

"At that point the removal vehicle has been struck in the rear by the articulated vehicle," said Sergeant Burns.

"The result is that the collision has killed the three people who stopped to tend to the occupants of the Carlton.

"The articulated vehicle has continued through the scene, colliding with the Range Rover which was parked on the hard shoulder."

Injured

Police are investigating whether the two women and a man in the Carlton died in the first or the second accident.

The driver of the articulated lorry, Brian France, 54, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was treated for minor injuries at Harrogate District Hospital.

He was then arrested and questioned by police before being bailed to return at a later date.

The driver of the Carlton was taken to Harrogate District Hospital by air ambulance.

He was in the intensive care unit suffering from multiple injuries.

The passenger in the removal van was uninjured but was in deep shock, police said.