UK police arrest 12 after deadly wrong-way crash that killed 7

Police have denied the collision on Saturday was linked to filming for the TikTok online platform

British police have arrested 12 people after a car pursued by police crashed while driving the wrong way on a major road, killing five youths and two officers.

The deaths on Saturday came as officials warned of a trend for young people to carry out dangerous driving stunts to post on social media. However, police on Monday denied the collision was linked to filming for the TikTok online platform.

Police in the Cleveland area of northeast England said there was “no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok”.

The force revealed that officers were chasing two cars with cloned plates when the deadly accident occurred. It added that 12 had since been arrested on suspicion of taking part in an organised crime group and weapon possession.

The crash came days after five teenagers were killed in Ireland while their car drove the wrong way on a motorway.

Irish police chief Justin Kelly said that “what makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media”.