Woman killed in crash as M8 shut in both directions

A woman has died in a crash on a stretch of Scotland’s busiest motorway – closing the road all day.

The crash happened on the eastbound carriageway at Shotts, North Lanarkshire, just after 4am on Friday.

The female driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle that crashed.

Police are continuing their investigations and the road remains closed in both directions between junctions four and five.

Chief inspector Darren Faulds, said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and friends of the person who sadly lost their life in this incident.

“We understand that closing this major route has caused significant disruption to motorists, and we thank them for their patience while we continue to respond to this serious incident.

“I would ask any driver using the M8 in the early hours of this morning who may have witnessed the incident, or who may have dash cam footage of the incident, contact police.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident 0355 of 2 October, 2020.

A separate crash involving two vehicles also closed a section of the M8 between junctions 6a and 4a eastbound on Friday.

Traffic Scotland has reported long queues on the road, urging motorists to avoid the route if possible, as diversions are heavily congested.