The Metropolitan Police has altered its 999 call handler training after officers were dispatched to an incorrect location following an initial road incident, preceding a subsequent collision that killed three people.
Sachin Kalia, 19, Davina Kaur Ruprah, 24, and Kiranjeet Sagoo, 36, died on 15 July 2024, after a crash on the A13 in east London. A jury at Walthamstow Coroner's Court concluded that the fatal collision might have been avoided if officers had received the correct location of an earlier incident and arrived in time to clear it.
The jury also determined that the deaths occurred when a driver lost control at high speed in poor weather and collided with the victims' vehicle. The fatal crash could also have been avoided if a Ford Transit van had not been parked in the central reservation after the first incident.
Coroner Nina Persaud has issued a prevention of future deaths report, highlighting concerns about the failure to record the correct location. The Met Police has acknowledged the recording error and the lack of immediate supervisory intervention. New training now incorporates the What3words location sharing system and prioritises verbal descriptions from callers over mast data.