The IOPC is investigating how South Wales and Gwent Police responded to the missing person reports of five people found on March 6 following a car accident in the early hours of March 4.

The IOPC is to investigate the actions of South Wales and Gwent Police in relation to a RTC earlier this week in which three people were killed.

Emergency services discovered a Volkswagen Tiguan on the A48 in Cardiff at 12.15am March 6, following a collision which occurred in the early hours of March 4.

Three people died in the crash, with the remaining two in critical condition at the University Hospital of Wales.

After receiving referrals from both forces, the IOPC has confirmed it will investigate how they each responded when the individuals were reported missing.

IOPC Director, David Ford, said: “We will be examining what information police had, the grading given to any risk assessments, and the steps taken by police to locate the missing people prior to the Volkswagen Tiguan being found just after midnight on Monday."

The IOPC will also examine the communication between the two forces, whether "police action was appropriate and followed relevant policy and procedures".

Both forces have released a joint statement outlining when each missing person report was made.

The first of these was made at 7.34pm on March 4, after which two further reports were made before the final report was made at 5.37pm on March 5.

The police helicopter was requested at 11.50pm that day; the vehicle was first spotted at 12.02am on March 6 after which a log was created at 12.15am.