Police tackling ‘large scale disorder’ at crash scene in Cardiff

Police officers are facing “large scale disorder” at the scene of a serious road traffic collision in Cardiff.

Officers were called to the scene of the crash on Snowden Road in Ely shortly after 6pm on Monday.

Scenes being livestreamed on YouTube showed youths throwing fireworks and other missiles at a line of police officers with riot shields who were blocking one end of the street.

A fire was burning and a helicopter could be heard hovering overhead.

The public were warned that the road was closed between Wilson Road and Jackson Road and urged to avoid to area.

Disorder

At 8.21pm, South Wales Police tweeted: “There is now a large number of officers working to manage the collision, but also to de-escalate ongoing disorder at the scene.

“We urge anyone involved to leave the scene immediately and ask local residents to stay away while the matter is brought to a safe conclusion.”

An hour later, police said emergency services remained at the scene and reiterated the importance of people staying away from the area.

The force added: “Please avoid speculation – we will bring you the latest details as soon as we can – all of our updates must be factual.”

At 11.15pm, South Wales Police provided a further update that officers remained at the scene to manage “large scale disorder”.

It added: “Officers remain on scene to manage a large scale disorder. Again, we urge anyone involved or watching to leave immediately. We understand the concern from local residents and we ask you to stay indoors.”