Two die as car crashes into coach during police chase

Two people have died in a crash during a police pursuit in west London.

A car being followed by police strayed on to the wrong side of the A40 carriageway and hit a coach at 9pm on Sunday.

A man and woman in the car being chased were pronounced dead at the scene and a second man in the vehicle was taken to hospital for treatment.

It is not known how many passengers were on the coach, but there were no reports of any other injuries of the crash near the junction of Kingsdown Avenue, Acton.

The Metropolitan Police were responding to reports of an aggravated burglary in Harrow, northwest London, at about 8.40pm on Sunday.

A chase ensued, with a police helicopter assisting. The Met said the police cars did not follow when the vehicle they were pursuing drove on to the wrong side of the road.

The Directorate of Professional Standards and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been informed of the incident.

Last month, the IOPC investigated four separate fatal incidents involving patrol cars across the UK over the course of a week.

PCSO Holly Burke was killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver who struck her car while being chased by police in the West Midlands on 22 January; a 26-year-old refugee from Eritrea died after being hit by a police car responding to a 999 call in east London on the same day.

Jessie Whitehead, 74, was riding a mobility scooter when she was hit by a marked squad car as it responded to an emergency in Warwickshire on 23 January, and Paul Radcliffe, 18, was killed by a car which had failed to stop for police in Leicestershire on 19 January.

(c) Sky News 2019: Two die as car crashes into coach during police chase