The lorry drivers involved in Saturday's fatal M1 crash have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Eight people were killed as result of the crash while three others are still fighting for their lives in critical condition.

Police arrested Ryszard Masierak, 31, and David Wagstaff, 53, after two HGVs were involved in a collision with a 16-seater minibus on the M1 yesterday morning.

Masierak, of Evesham, Worcestershire, is accused of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving .

He is also charged with eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit in connection with the crash, Thames Valley Police said today.

He has been remanded in custody to appear at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Wagstaff, of Derwent Street, Stoke-on-Trent, is charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He was bailed to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court on September 11.

Police said in a statement: "The charges are in connection with a collision shortly before 3.15am yesterday in which six men and two women died.

"Four people who were injured and taken to hospital remain in serious conditions."

Three of the wounded - including a five-year-old girl - are said to be fighting for their lives following the tragedy, which saw the minibus crushed "flat" on the motorway.

Emergency workers clear up the last parts of the wreckage.

Earlier, a man who fought to save the child described how the scene was like a "war zone".

Brett Smith, 36, told his taxi driver to "stop" as he and his pals came across the devastating scene on the M1's southbound carriageway while heading home after a night out.

The dad-of-two rushed over to help the crying child, who was trapped under a seat in the minibus, surrounded by blood and bodies. He comforted her by holding her hand.

"I could see everything. It was not pretty – it was a war zone," he told The Sun .

“We came across the incident and instinctively I said 'stop' so I could jump out and offer help."

Brett said he initially thought the small girl was around three years old. As she screamed, he tried to comfort her by getting her to hold his hand and his arm.

The driver of the minibus has been named locally as dad-of-two Cyriac Joseph

He also gave her his jacket to keep her warm.

"There was blood everywhere," he said. "Just the child was screaming. She was trapped underneath a seat. I was getting her to hold my hand and my arm."

When emergency crews arrived at the scene, Brett continued holding the youngster "for a good hour or so", as firefighters and medics battled to free her.

"I walked home with a blanket that the ambulance service provided me to stay warm because the little girl has got my jacket to keep herself safe," he recalled.

"The fire and ambulances services did a really good job."

Brett, an ADHD charity advocate from Milton Keynes, said any parent would have instinctively raced over and attempted to help the little girl like he did.

He added that, hours on, he can still see her face when he closes his eyes.

His comments came as the driver of the minibus was named locally as dad-of-two Cyriac Joseph - described by pals as a "lovely and generous" man.

Just two days ago, he had been ­celebrating his daughter’s 12 A and A* grades in her GCSEs.

The Bank Holiday weekend pile-up saw the worst loss of life on a British road for nearly 25 years.

Shocked road users describing the scene of the collision as "absolutely horrific"

The motorway was fully closed southbound between junction 15 at Northampton and junction 14 at Milton Keynes in the wake of the smash. It has since been reopened.

All of the dead and injured victims were travelling in the minibus, which was apparently flattened.

Emergency crews first arrived at the scene after reports of a three-vehicle collision on the motorway. Both lorries and the minibus were travelling in the same direction, police said.

Hundreds of cars wait as emergency workers clear up the last parts of the wreckage.

Ollie Miller, who witnessed the aftermath of the incident, said: "It looked horrible... the minibus was basically flat. I feel sorry for all those affected."

Police said six men and two women died in the crash as the minibus, from the Nottingham area, was heading south.

Pictures showed the mangled wreck of Mr Joseph’s minibus, a FedEx lorry with its cab crushed and a twisted A.I.M. Logistics truck.

The young girl was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

A man and a woman also have life-threatening injuries, while a second woman is in hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Police said some of those on board the minibus when it crashed close to Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire were on holiday from India and visiting their families in the UK.

Some of the victims worked in Nottingham for an IT firm, while the rest were relatives visiting from the Indian city of Madras. The bus was operated by ABC Travels – run by Mr Joseph since 2008.

Relatives said his family were ­shattered by the accident.

Wife Ancy, 52, is a cardiac unit nurse at Nottingham City Hospital.

Indian-born Mr Joseph – known as Benny – and Ancy have two children, university student Benson, 20, and Benitea, 16, who has just received ten A* grades and 2 As in her GCSEs.

ABC Travels was named after the initials of each of the family’s first names.

Relative Soyimon Joseph said the minibus was taking a group of 11 people made up of two or three ­families to Wembley coach station in North West London.

From there, the 11 passengers were due to go on a coach journey around Europe, according to friends. The group had been picked up in the Hyson Green area of Nottingham at 2am.

As the full horror of the accident began to sink in, Soyimon told the Sunday Mirror: “His wife and my wife went to the hospital.

“It is devastating. He and Ancy celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last year. Benny is the perfect driver.

“He would only use the slow lane or the second lane and he had an alarm in his 16-seat minibus that would go off if he went over 60mph.”

Soyimon, 49, described Benny as his best friend and said he last saw him at 10pm on Friday – just five hours before the tragedy.

He told how Mr Joseph had been ­planning a new home in India and was going out there on September 3.

“The foundation stone was to be laid four days later,” he added.

A spokesman for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said dozens of emergency workers attended the scene

Mr Joseph’s neighbour Hana Adam told of her “utter shock” over the accident and described her friend as “just a generous guy”.

She said: “When I needed a lift anywhere he would just give me one, and wouldn’t charge me. I’ve lived next door to them my whole life and the whole family are just lovely.”

One motorist who passed the scene on the opposite carriageway described the crash on Twitter as “the most horrific I have ever seen”.

The southbound carriageway of the M1 was closed for 10 hours.

Thousands of motorists travelling for the Bank Holiday weekend – including rugby league fans from Wigan and Hull heading to the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Final at Wembley – were caught up in traffic gridlock.

Some trippers missed flight connections as backlogs of two hours built up.

Chief Inspector Henry Parsons, from Thames Valley Police’s Joint Operations Unit for Roads Policing, described the scene as “distressing”.

He said: “Officers are working to inform next of kin of the people who died and specially-trained family liaison officers will be offering them their support.

“This collision was deeply distressing for the members of the public who witnessed it, along with the emergency service workers who attended and displayed high levels of professionalism.”

A spokesman for Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said dozens of emergency workers attended the scene.

He added: “Firefighters used hydraulic rescue equipment to release three people, who were taken to hospital with a fourth person.”

Spokesmen for AIM Logistics and FedEx expressed sympathies to those who lost loved ones in the crash, and said the companies were assisting police with their inquiries.

Ismail Elmagdoub, director of AIM Logistics, said: “Road safety and compliance is of the utmost importance to AIM and we are continuing to assist the police as much as possible with their inquiries.”

The death toll was the highest on a British motorway since November 1993, when 12 children and their teacher died after a crash on the M40.