A heavily pregnant woman and her unborn baby were killed when an unmarked police car ploughed into her as she drove into a leisure centre to collect her husband and daughter.
The 38-year-old woman, who had been due to give birth in the coming weeks, died following the horror crash in Eltham, south-east London, on Thursday evening.
She had been turning into the Sutcliffe Park Sports Centre when an unmarked Volvo police car, which was driving at high speed along the Eltham Road, smashed into her hatchback, flipping it over three times.
Witnesses described seeing her distraught husband come running out of the leisure centre shouting “that’s my wife, she’s pregnant”.
A motorist who was in the car behind the victim described seeing two police cars speeding along the road before one crashed into the blue VW Polo.
The woman said: “We were just behind her. She was about to pull in and they just moved through and took her out.
“There were two police vehicles, one had passed and it was the second one that hit her.
“After the car had hit her there were two motorbikes behind that stopped.
“There was obviously something going on, they were all going in the same direction.”
Her son said: “They probably hit her at about 70 or 80 miles per hour, but that was once he’d braked, but coming down the road he was probably doing more.”
London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and London Air Ambulance all attended the scene and tried to resuscitate both mother and baby, but neither could be saved.
One person close to the scene said medics had even tried to perform an emergency caesarean section in the road.
The two police officers in the unmarked car were taken to hospital but later discharged.
Witnesses described seeing the police car with its blue lights and sirens on driving at high speed overtaking other cars just moments before the impact.
One local resident said: “I heard it before I saw anything, and I looked out of the window and I saw the unmarked police car… it looked like it was doing some speed.
“The other car, a blue car, collided, flipped about three times across the pavement, and then turned upright and landed there.”
Another witness added: “I saw the flash of a speeding car go by and then the police car, with its lights and siren going. Then I heard the crash – it sounded like an explosion, it was so loud.
“I saw the police officer who was a passenger up against an airbag. The officer who was driving the car was able to get out by himself, but the front of their car was completely squashed.”
Plumber Abu Bakar, 34, who was working near the scene at the time, said: “It was just the lady in her car, her husband was waiting for her in the leisure centre.
“Obviously, when it happened the husband came out and realised it was his wife’s car, she was going to pick him up.
“The man rushed over and was shouting her name. He was telling [the] police ‘that’s my wife, that’s my wife’ and ran over to her.”
Mr Bakar estimated the police car had been travelling up to 70mph in the moments before the impact.
It is the second fatal road traffic accident in the area this month with a pedestrian in her 60s killed in a motorbike crash on Oct 1.
Det Ch Supt Trevor Lawry, in charge of policing in Greenwich, said: “My heart goes out to the woman’s family and friends, who have lost their loved ones in these tragic circumstances.
“An investigation into the circumstances of this collision by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is under way, and we will assist with their enquiries in any way we can.”
‘Tragic incident’
An IOPC spokesman confirmed that an independent investigation into the circumstances of the fatal collision had been launched.
Mel Palmer, IOPC regional director, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those who have died and all of those affected by this tragic incident.
“It is important we establish all of the circumstances surrounding this incident and our investigation is in its very early stages.
“This is a busy road, and the collision happened in the early evening when people are likely to have been travelling. We would like to hear from anyone who was in the vicinity at the time and may have witnessed the incident or the moments leading up to it.
“Anyone who saw anything or has footage is encouraged to get in touch with our investigators.”
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