A lorry driver is being questioned by police today after a crash in which three passengers in a minibus carrying physically and mentally handicapped adults were killed.
Eight passengers and the minibus driver were injured in last night's accident outside Toomebridge, Co Antrim, on the main road between Belfast and Derry.
At least two of the injured taken to the Antrim Area Hospital were believed to be in serious conditions. The driver of the lorry was also taken to hospital.
Police said the 40-year-old from Derry was later arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
The minibus is understood to have been carrying people from a local nursing home.
Witness Mr Peter Doran said that, helped by two lorry drivers, he got a knife and cut seatbelts which were blocking the windpipes of passengers and managed to get all but two of the passengers out.
"At that stage there were two people dead and some people very, very seriously injured. There was one person who had a broken neck".
The ambulance service praised those who helped the injured before the emergency services arrived for doing "an absolutely marvellous job".
PA