Police location error preceded fatal A13 crash that killed three

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Nov, 05:01 · Archive

Three people died in a crash on the A13 after police were sent to the wrong location following an earlier collision.

Sachin Kalia, 19, Davina Kaur Ruprah, 24, and Kiranjeet Sagoo, 36, died after their vehicle collided with a Ford Transit van on the A13 at Wennington junction near Rainham on 15 July 2024. The van had been left on the central reservation following an earlier crash at 9.12pm when a BMW lost control in adverse weather conditions.

A 999 caller correctly reported the location of the first crash as Wennington junction, but the Metropolitan Police call handler recorded it as Dagenham junction instead. Officers were sent to the wrong location and found no trace of the incident. Essex Police received a separate 999 call about the same first crash but wrongly identified it as being in their area and did not contact the Met. No Essex resources were available to respond.

At 10.04pm, a BMW travelling at high speed lost control on the wet road and struck the Ford Transit, killing all three occupants. A jury concluded the collision could have been avoided if officers had received the correct location and arrived in time, or if the van had not been positioned on the central reservation. Both police forces have since strengthened 999 call-handler training and procedures for identifying incident locations, with Essex Police introducing refresher training on digital mapping and location verification.

How it is being reported

• Police confusion over location ahead of fatal A13 crash sparks coroner warningEssex Police has strengthened 999 call-handler training after confusion over the location of an earlier crash contributed to a second fatal collision.Echo (Basildon) · 15 Nov, 04:00
• Fatal crash 'could have been avoided' had police attended the correct locationPolice were sent to the wrong location of a crash prior to a collision where three people were killedEssexLive · 14 Nov, 13:57

In this story: Sachin Kalia · Davina Kaur Ruprah · Kiranjeet Sagoo · Metropolitan Police Service · Essex Police · A13 · Wennington junction

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log