Police praise bravery of those who helped in horror pile-up in Britain (VIDEO)

Police have praised the bravery of passers-by in one of Britain's worst traffic pile-ups, which triggered a huge fireball that killed at least seven people.

The accident on the M5 motorway near Taunton, southwest England involved 34 vehicles, including cars, vans and large trucks, CNN reported, citing police.

Police reportedly said 51 people had been hurt in the pile-up — which the Daily Mirror suggested may have been cased by a fireworks display at a local rugby ground. They warned that the death could rise as more bodies were feared to be trapped in badly burnt vehicles.

The BBC quoted assistant Chief Constable Anthony Bangham as praising the bravery of members of the public who had tried to help others caught up in the crash.

"The intensity of the fire — it was a fireball on the carriageway — made it incredibly difficult for people to approach. People did their very best."

Agence France-Presse reported that:

Footage taken at the scene showed motorists risking their own lives amid the flames to prise open vehicle doors and rescue people trapped inside.

The crash, in foggy and wet conditions burnt some vehicles to the ground, leaving only cinders and twisted, fire-blackened metal scattered across the roadway.

Witnesses told the Mirror they heard "the cries of little ones" and screams from trapped motorists.

"People were trapped in their vehicles and they were screaming. I heard children crying," the paper quotes a teacher, Tom Hamill, 25, as saying.

The paper also quotes witnesses as saying motorists could have been distracted by a fireworks display, along with lingering smoke from bonfire night celebrations that mixed with thick fog that had already reduced visibility.