A motorcyclist and pillion passenger who were among six people killed in a crash near Wakefield have been named as a husband and wife.
Christopher Barton, 56, and Janine Barton, 48, have been described by their son as ‘a loving, caring mum and dad who always put me before everything else’.
The couple had recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, police said.
Shane Roller, 33, his 30-year-old partner Shannen Morgan and their daughters Rubie and Lillie Morgan-Roller, aged nine and four, were also killed in the crash between a Ford Focus and a motorbike on the A61 on Sunday.
The couple’s eldest daughter, who has been named locally as 11-year-old Poppie, has now been left without parents or siblings after losing ‘her entire world in an instant’.
Police described the collision as an ‘absolutely tragic incident’ and called for witnesses to come forward with dash-cam footage.
A friend of the family wrote following the news: ‘My heart is absolutely shattered, I’m lost, I’m numb. It just doesn’t seem real that all four of you are gone.’
A family member posted on Facebook: ‘Honestly lost for words. I’m absolutely heartbroken, I’m gonna miss all of you. It’s absolutely broken my heart and it’s absolutlely broke both sides of the families.
‘You all had a heart of gold and gonna miss you all like crazy! My heart goes out to Shannen’s side of the family and mine, we are in absolute shock.’
Footage of the aftermath showed a burnt-out car surrounded by a heavy police presence on the A61 between Wakefield and Barnsley.
It is thought the Ford Focus burst into flames after colliding with the motorbike, and images from the scene show the mangled wreckage of the vehicle lying at the roadside.
Debris, thought to be from the motorbike, could also be seen strewn across the middle of the road.
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