FIVE people have been killed on the M4 today after a car being followed by police drove the wrong way down the carriageway and crashed into another vehicle.

FIVE people have been killed on the M4 today after a car being followed by police drove the wrong way down the carriageway and crashed into another vehicle.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission will probe the incident which happened shortly after 3am on the eastbound carriageway of the M4 in Newport, south Wales.

The crash was between a red Ford Mondeo and a red Volvo 940.

Three young men from one car were pronounced dead at the scene along with a couple in another car.

An 18-year-old from the car containing the young men was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport with multiple fractures of his limbs.

Long tailbacks were reported in and around the city as a result of the motorway closure.