A man on his way to hospital for chemotherapy was stranded on a motorway for three hours after a crash involving 16 vehicles. 

Mozie Mafi, aged 66, was caught up in the incident on Thursday, at the Ramsbottom and Bury junction of the M66. 

Mozie and his wife Helena, from Haslingden, were trapped in their car on the motorway for almost three hours without any heating, leaving them in temperatures of minus five degrees.

Their daughter Soraya, an opera singer who now lives in London, told of the trauma. She managed to make contact with them and said she was becoming increasingly worried about her father’s condition.

She added: “He has a type of leukaemia that can be treated by chemotherapy, but he has very low immunity while he is having treatment, leaving him at high risk of infection.

“That was my main concern, keeping him as warm as possible. “He has caught things in the past and been stuck in hospital for a week of two.

“They called an ambulance but they said they were too busy and to contact the Highways Agency so they did, but they said it will only be 20 to 30 minutes before it gets moving. It ended up being another hour. The heating stopped working and I was telling them to get out and ask for help, but they couldn’t even get out of the car to ask for help because the wind was so strong. They have since started moving and are on their way home.”