Hampshire Police issue update on arrests following M27 crash
Hampshire police gave the update to the Echo[1] this afternoon regarding the three people arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following the collision[2] around lunchtime, where a lorry crashed into a gantry, killing the driver who was in his 30s.
The road has been closed ever since while the gantry is made safe, causing gridlock.
The 32-year-old man, a 37-year-old man, and a 40-year-old woman were initially taken to hospital after their arrests.
But at around 4.30pm today, a Hampshire police spokesman confirmed the three were now in police custody.
Typically police can only keep arrested people in custody for 24 hours before either charging them or releasing them.
But in exceptional circumstances they can get an extension to further question those arrested.
When asked if an extension had been granted, a force spokesperson said they could not comment for operational reasons.
More than 24 hours after the tragedy, National Highways are still working to reopen the M27 between westbound junctions nine and five.
Mark Hallett, National Highways Operations Manager in the South East, said: “This is a complex situation and removing the damaged gantry will take a number of hours. This is a structure that is 9m tall and spans multiple lanes of traffic.
“The safety of those travelling on our network is our number one priority and keeping the entire carriageway closed is the safest way for us to remove the gantry.