Police have released CCTV images of a man wanted in connection with a car crash that killed three teenage pedestrians on Friday night.
Investigators believe there were at least two men in a black Audi that ploughed into three friends on Shepiston Lane in Hayes.
The three victims have been named locally as Harry Rice, George Wilkinson and Josh Kennedy.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, all three boys – two aged 16 and one aged 17 – were pronounced dead at the scene.
Images of man sought in connection with Hayes fatal collsion released https://t.co/WjZgoYyt6d pic.twitter.com/2xwT13dgrI
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 28, 2018
It is understood they had been on their way to a birthday party at a nearby football club with friends when they were killed.
The Met said: “The vehicle involved is believed to have been travelling at high speed and came to a stop a short distance away from the collision.”
A 28-year-old man was detained by members of the public and has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
But one other man is thought to have been travelling in the Audi is believed to have fled the scene on foot.
The victims were with a group of friends walking towards the GOALS five-a-side football club at around 8.40pm when they were hit.
The collision occurred close to the Esso garage near junction 4 of the M4.
Witnesses standing outside the neighbouring Premier Inn told the Press Association they saw a man of Asian appearance holding a bag go sprinting down the road in the moments after the crash.
Detective Sergeant Michael Rapp of the Met’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “While the images are not of good quality, I am convinced that anyone who knows this male will recognise him.
“I urge anyone who can identify him or provide details of his whereabouts to contact my team without delay.
“Three young men have lost their lives as a result of this incident; such tragic circumstances must far outweigh any taboo around assisting police.”
The first suspect is currently being held in police custody.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here