The four-year-old girl who was killed in a devastating collision as she walked hand in hand with her grandmother when a laden tipper truck ran out of control on a steep hill in Bath has been named.

The family of the girl, who are from Bath, released the picture with a brief tribute, saying: “Mitzi Rosanna Steady aged four, loved and missed by us all.”

One neighbour said: “She was a lovely little girl. Very energetic. She was always with her nan.” Floral tributes left at the scene included the simple message: “Rest in peace, little angel.”

Mother-of-two Katie D’Arcy, who lives locally, said she would often see Mitzi walking with her grandmother. “She was a gorgeous little girl,” she said.

A family friend, Annette Stearns, said Mitzi’s grandmother moved to Bath just two months ago to help look after her grandchildren.

As schoolchildren, parents and parishioners gathered for comfort and to show solidarity with those who had lost loved ones at a special church service, police confirmed that Mitzi’s grandmother, who has not been named, remained in a critical condition having been airlifted from the scene to hospital.

Avon and Somerset police also said the three men who died in the incident were all travelling in the same car – a Volvo – and were from south Wales. The family of one of the men, power company executive Phil Allen, 52, visited the scene and talked at length to police officers.

Also killed in the Volvo was driver Stephen Vaughan, 34. The third person who died in the Volvo, a 59-year-old man, has not been identified.

Avon and Somerset police said they had “briefly” spoken to the driver, who sustained minor injuries, but will interview him fully at a later stage.

The truck was taken away for forensic examination on Tuesday morning as officers tried to establish the cause of the accident, which took place at about 4pm on Monday.

Police said the lorry, laden with sand and gravel, collided with pedestrians and cars as it travelled at speed downhill along Lansdown Lane in the village of Weston, close to a primary school. It then overturned on to the Volvo.

Police said early eyewitness reports suggest the driver of the 32-tonne Scania lorry lost control after taking evasive action to avoid an earlier potential accident.
One resident, Philip Browne, 65, said he saw the tipper truck driver crawling out the windscreen of his cab after the accident.

Browne, a semi-retired driver, said: “I was in the driveway washing my car and I heard a big bang. It sounded like a big, hollow bucket had been dropped.

“I ran down to the bottom of the drive and saw the lorry lying on its side. Just as I got there the driver of the lorry was climbing out through the broken windscreen.

“The poor chap was in bits. He was looking for a coat and was shaking and upset. He was in a state of shock. He said, ‘I think I’ve killed somebody’. He said that he was coming down the hill and his boss was driving in front of him.”

Browne, whose five-year-old grandson goes to the primary school, added: “He said that he tried to apply the brakes but they didn’t work. He was sounding his horn, trying to get people out if his way. He said he was trying to slow down by driving along the houses’ walls.”

Brian Fisher, 53, who was working nearby, said: “It was carnage, absolute carnage.” He and a colleague tried to help the three men in the car. “You wouldn’t recognise it as a car. There was a nurse who tried to clear a guy’s airway but it didn’t work. I spoke to a police officer who said that in 25 years he had never seen anything like this.”

Many residents expressed concern and anger that so many lorries used the steep, narrow hill. They said they had long campaigned for trucks to be banned or severely limited and had frequently warned that a tragedy was bound to happen.

Ch Insp Norman Pascal, of Avon and Somerset police said it was lucky that most children had already left the area around the school, Weston All Saints primary – known locally as WASPS.

Locally and nationally, questions will be raised about why the 32-tonne lorry was on the very steep road. Residents said they had long campaigned for lorries to be banned from the hill, described as a “rat run”. There is a width restriction but no weight limit.

A spokesperson for Bath and North East Somerset council said traffic-calming measures were introduced to the road five months ago. The council said the lorry was not connected to a construction project at the school or to any council works.

The road safety charity Brake said work drivers and vehicles were involved in a huge proportion of UK road deaths – at least one in three.

Edmund King, the president of the AA, said banning HGVs from residential roads would be difficult. “Most of our goods in our shops are delivered by heavy goods vehicles or relatively large vehicles,” he said.

Schoolchildren, parents, grandparents and parishioners packed All Saints church in Weston for a special service on Tuesday morning. Some carried flowers, others wrote messages of condolence on a table set up at the back of the church. One read: “Dear God, please heal our village of Weston.” One man sobbed uncontrollably, consoled by a friend as he waited for the service to begin.
Among the mourners was Ann Fellow, 62, who heard the crash and ran out into the street.

She said: “There was a deafening bang – worse than thunder. It was like a huge dull thud. There was a little girl lying in the road. It just doesn’t bear thinking about. It doesn’t feel real. It was like a nightmare.”

She attended the service with three grandchildren aged seven to four before laying tulips at the scene. “We felt it was really important to come together at this terrible time.”

Another witness, who asked not to be named, said the girl and her grandmother had just got off a bus when the accident happened. The witness said: “We saw the aftermath – it was eerie, absolutely horrific. I could see a woman wrapped in blankets against the wall. It’s such a horrible thing to have happened.”

One 21-year-old woman, who also ran outside when she heard the crash, said: “It was a loud rumble and then all of a sudden all you could hear was a lorry beeping constantly and then there was a loud bang and the beeping stopped. I think he was trying to warn people he couldn’t stop. It was a mess. There was someone lying in the road with a blanket over them. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

During the service, Rector Patrick Whitworth said those in church represented not just the people of Weston but the “many thousands across the nation” who had been shocked by what happened.

Order of service for Bath tipper truck accidentally pic.twitter.com/LSJN68L6b0

— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) February 10, 2015

He said the community would come together to support the families of those who were killed or injured. “We’re here to remember those who died and those who are recovering in hospital,” said Whitworth. “Were also here to comfort each other. We encourage each other by being together.”

He also thanked the many children who were able to attend church because their school remained closed. He said staff and the head were meeting to plan how to organise the reopening of the school on Wednesday.

A packed parish church in Bath following the tipper truck tragedy. pic.twitter.com/4paG3d9aL4

— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) February 10, 2015

The rector said the investigation would find out whether some sort of mechanical fault was behind the crash. But he said nobody knew, on a more fundamental level, why on a lovely, bright February afternoon “such a terrible disaster” should occur.

Whitworth said police had thanked local people who were first on the scene for the help they had provided. He said many of the congregation would know the families of those involved – and perhaps the girl, too. “We will weep with them and then mourn with them,” he said.

One large candle was lit to represent God’s presence and four smaller candles for those who lost their lives.

The three men who died were two executives and a driver. Relatives of one of them, Allen, who worked for Western Power, visited the scene and laid a Swansea City football shirt at the spot. His wife, Louise, said: “The whole family is devastated.” She also laid a bunch of flowers with a note, which read: “Phil/Daddy/Grampa, Miss you so much. Love you always.”

Allen’s family then spent more than half an hour speaking to officers at the scene of the crash.

The driver was named locally in south Wales as Stephen Vaughan, 34, from Swansea, who had recently married.

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, said the community was in shock. He said the council had imposed 20mph speed restrictions on parts of the road in order to prevent accidents. “It is a road where we have put speed limits in and flashing lights because it is quite a steep hill coming down,” he said. “There have been attempts by the council over the years to improve safety.”

Local councillor Colin Barrett said he had been campaigning for safety on the road for 14 years. “Although we have a 20mph limit here, drivers just don’t adhere to it,” he said.

Anne Bull, headteacher of the school, said: “On behalf of the school community, I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of those who died yesterday.

“We also send our best wishes to the people that have been injured. This is a truly shocking event that has been deeply felt by the local community. We will be supporting any children that need bereavement counselling, as some pupils may have been affected because this accident took place so near to the school.”

Bath and North East Somerset council was placing books of condolences in Weston library and Bath library as a more permanent way for people to show their respects.