LONDON: Three young children and two adults died when their car burst into flames in an accident involving three lorries and another car on a motorway in Cheshire, police said on Tuesday.

The accident happened on the northbound carriageway of the M6 between junction 16 at Barthomley and junction 17 at Sandbach late on Monday.

Police confirmed that they had found five bodies in the car that caught fire but later said it was believed that there were six people in the car, and all were fatalities.

The victims have not been identified, but police said it was believed the family were from Llandudno in north Wales. No one else was injured in the crash.

The driver of one of the lorries, a 46-year-old Portuguese man working for a Spanish company, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A Cheshire police spokeswoman said part of the motorway was closed for several hours while investigators worked at the scene. Police did not say what caused the crash.

The cars and trucks have been taken away for forensic tests.

In a separate incident on the M6 less than two hours earlier, a man in his 30s was killed when his van collided with a bridge. Police closed the northbound carriageway between junctions 17 and 18.

They appealed for witnesses to both accidents. The Highways Agency warned of long delays on the busy motorway.—Reuters