Pic: Lee Haywood

Two men from Tower Hamlets have been named as the victims of a fatal car crash that took place on the M1 on Monday morning.

Mizanur Rahman, 24, and Gulzar Ahmed, 22, both from Stepney Green, were named by friends as the driver and passenger killed in a collision near Watford.

Six other men were injured in the accident and one man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has since been released on bail pending further investigations.

Police were called to the scene at around 2.40am on Monday after reports that two black BMWs had been involved in a crash.

Inspector Paul Campbell, of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit, warned that the investigation into the accident could be lengthy.

He said: “This was a devastating collision which has sadly resulted in two men losing their lives and others being seriously injured. A number of contributory factors need to be carefully considered to piece together the precise events.

“The two BMWs were travelling a number of seconds apart and, for reasons unknown at this time, separately lost control before eventually colliding with each other.”

Police are looking into whether the two vehicles were racing each other at the time of the incident.

Witnesses have claimed that the cars were travelling at speeds of 140mph shortly before the accident and that a confrontation took place just after the crash between survivors and occupants of a third car that stopped at the scene.

Friends and family of the two dead men have been paying their respects on Twitter and prayers are expected to be said for the pair in mosques in Tower Hamlets on Friday.