Police aborted the pursuit of a car seconds before it crashed while going the wrong way down a dual carriageway, killing all five men aboard and two officers, investigators have said.
Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17, died when a Volkswagen Passat struck a Cleveland Police vehicle on the A66 near Middlesbrough on Saturday.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, who were on the correct side of the road and were helping search for the car, were also killed.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the force had been pursuing the Passat following reports of "numerous incidents" linked to it.
The watchdog, which launched an immediate investigation into the crash, said the Passat was believed to be using cloned registration plates which activated an ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) camera.
Analysis of footage from one of the police vehicles showed the pursuit lasted just under seven minutes before the Passat travelled on to the wrong side of the A66, at which point officers "aborted" it, the IOPC said.
The pursuing officers continued to travel on the correct side of the carriageway but approximately 10 seconds later, at about 03:39 BST, the Passat collided with the marked armed response vehicle which was "in the area to assist in a search" for the car, a spokesman said.
Security footage from a house on Lime Road in Middlesbrough appears to show a car being pursued by police vehicles three minutes before the crash.
A video posted on a TikTok account believed to belong to Makai Saddington in March 2025 showed him and four other young people involved in what appears to be a police pursuit. The video has since been deleted.
BBC Verify anyalysed the one minute 34 second-long clip, which showed the car driving on footpaths and parkland in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, with Saddington a rear-seat passenger.
Another video posted by the same account, also since deleted, appears to show a joyride where a passenger is smoking, with the speedometer showing 100mph.
Then, later in the video, a different car is set on fire. The passengers in this video are not identifiable.
Anna Turley, MP for the Redcar constituency where the crash happened, said it was "devastating" to think about the grief of the families involved.
"There were seven lives cut short needlessly in the early hours of yesterday morning and that's a tragedy for the community here, it's a tragedy for the Cleveland Police family. Everybody today is really mourning the loss of those lives."
She paid tribute to the "bravery" of the officers who died and said "no-one should not come home to their families at the end of their shift."
Cleveland Police Federation chairwoman Lauren Somerville said the loss of the two officers was "unfathomable", adding: "Words cannot describe the pain the Cleveland Police family are feeling today."
Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey said it was important to let the IOPC do its investigation.
"I would advise anybody who has opinions or hearing things on social media to make sure that misinformation doesn't spread and we let the IOPC do its work," he said.
The section of the A66 - the major artery through Teesside - between Eston Road and Normanby Road will remain closed until Monday while repairs are carried out on the carriageway.
