Five teenagers killed in South Yorkshire car crash named

Police describe incident as "absolutely horrific".

Five teenagers whose lives were cut short in a car crash in South Yorkshire have been named.

Blake Cairns, 16, Arpad Kore, 18, Jordanna Goodwin, 16 and Megan Storey, 16, were all sixth-form students at Danum Academy in Doncaster.

A fifth victim of the crash, Bartosz Bortniczak, was also a former pupil at the school, and was said to have kept “close ties” with his friends there.

The five had been travelling in a blue Toyota Corolla on Saturday evening near Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, when they collided with a grey Seat Leon.

The head of the teenagers’ school, Rebecca Staples, said the five were “wonderful young people” and that the local community was overcome with grief at their deaths.

“Each one of them has a special place in each of our hearts. They had tremendous lives ahead of them,” she said.

”Grief is already spreading across our community. Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of these wonderful young people.“

Police suspect the driver of a third car, who knew the victims, was involved in the incident.

He is said to have met with the teenagers at a nearby McDonalds restaurant in Doncaster before the crash.

The 21-year-old man, who was driving a black Vauxhall Corsa, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, though his vehicle was not part of the actual crash.

The driver of the grey Seat which the teenagers collided with suffered a broken leg in the collision.

Inspector Pete Serhatlic of South Yorkshire Police described the crash as “traumatic”.

”It was absolutely horrific. There's no other words to describe it. I'd rather not go into any details about what it was like but it was extremely traumatic.“

Ms Staples said the academy would do everything it could to support the families and friends of the teenagers, many of whom gathered outside the school on Sunday to lay flowers and tributes.

The accident happened just 100m from the scene of a 2011 crash which left three teenagers dead.