THEY had started the day like any other, rushing to begin their shifts at a bacon factory in the Yorkshire countryside.
But workers at the Karro Food Group factory, on the outskirts of Malton, were sent home yesterday after learning three of their colleagues had lost their lives as they made the journey to work.
A woman and her son were believed to be among the three killed when a Ford Focus crashed with a van on the B1248.
Pavel Tiser, who knew the woman, remembered her as "very small and very nice".
He said: "I had an accident rushing to work myself on these same roads, I skidded on some black ice and ended up in a field."
Crashes are, unfortunately, not uncommon in the country roads around the factory. According to workers, another of their colleagues lost their lives in a similar accident almost a year to the day. And, in 2004, nine workers were injured and a coach driver was killed when two coaches crashed in icy conditions.
Many Poles are among the 1,300-strong workforce employed by the company on the site.
By early evening, machines still whirred inside the factory. In the aftermath of the accident, those who had worked alongside the victims had been sent home.
Charles Pascall, the company's HR director, said: "We have sent a number of people home.
"Counsellors are on hand for them and we don't expect them back at work until they are ready to come back."
The woman who lost her life in the crash is believed to have lived in Hull with her son and husband, who used to work at the factory but has since left.
As workers filed out of the fenced alleyway at the end of their shifts, one woman, who asked to be identified only as Emily, said she had worked alongside the woman in the packing department of the bacon factory.
Emily said: "She was just a really nice, really friendly person. This is so sad."
