Three people were killed when a van crashed into a car after smashing through the central reservation of the M5 on Friday night.
Gloucestershire Police said a woman and a child, thought to be about 11, were also severely injured in the horrific accident near Tewkesbury at about 7.30pm.
A force spokesman confirmed that two people travelling in the van, which was carrying beer barrels, and the driver of a Mitsubishi Colt were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
A police spokesman said: "A Volkswagen van travelling southbound went through the central barrier and crossed into the northbound carriageway, where it collided with a Mitsubishi Colt.
"Two people travelling in the van, believed to be a man and a woman, were both pronounced dead at the scene.
"The male driver of the Mitsubishi also died at the scene and a woman passenger in the vehicle was severely injured."
A girl, thought to the injured woman's daughter, was also seriously injured and both casualties were airlifted to hospitals in Birmingham.
Beer barrels spilled from the van when it crashed, the spokesman added, and nine other vehicles were damaged in the accident, although no-one else was injured.
