FOUR workmen were killed yesterday when their car was crushed and exploded into flames after a grain lorry fell over on it.

Last night colleagues of the men were in shock when they heard of the accident on the outskirts of Dundee. Their friends were engulfed in a ball of fire while their Ford Fiesta was trapped underneath the lorry.

Tayside Police last night named the four victims as Mr Alan Mitchell, 61, Cornhill Road, Glenrothes, Mr Ian Curry, 37, Bank Place, Leslie, Mr Anthony Mills, 47, Wren Street, Buckhaven, and Mr Alexander Lindsay, 62, Blackdykes Terrace, Falkland. Mr Lindsay was married with five grown-up children. One son died many years ago in a motor cycle accident. Mr Curry had three children, Mr Mills two, and Mr Mitchell shared his home with his son Andrew.

The explosion, which could be heard from neighbouring houses, was caused by the lorry falling sideways and hitting the car at 7am yesterday.

The Ford Fiesta was travelling from Fife to a construction site in Arbroath. Any chance of the occupants surviving the impact was dashed when the car's petrol tank caught fire, turning the flattened car into an unrecognisable mangled black shell.

The first people on the scene could do nothing to help although they realised the men were trapped.

Fife-based company Muir Construction had sub-contracted the men from their regular employers, James Penman Plant Hire of Leslie. They were travelling to start work on a new Safeway supermarket in Arbroath.

Yesterday the managing director of Muir Construction, Mr Alan Muir, said the company was ''shocked and saddened'' by the news.

He went on: ''All work has been stopped as a mark of respect to the men, and at this time our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the many families and friends of the men who died.''

Nearly 20 firefighters went to the scene at the Claypotts junction on the A92 to extinguish the blazing car. But they were too late to save the occupants.

It was not until two hours later that the emergency services were finally able to remove the four bodies after a huge crane managed to lift the lorry off the wreckage, causing more grain to spill on to the road. It is estimated that the grain lorry, fully laden, would have weighed a total of 38 tonnes.

Earlier an ambulance took the lorry driver to Dundee Royal Infirmary suffering from chest injuries and shock. He is not thought to be in a serious condition and was discharged later in the day.

Chief Superintendent Bob Sutherland said: ''Both vehicles were travelling eastwards. The lorry overturned and the car went on fire. We don't yet know what caused the fire, but it was probably its petrol tank being crushed. It is too early to speculate about what caused the accident, but there will be a full examination and analysis once we have got it cleared.''

The senior fire officer, Divisional Officer William Steel, said: ''The damage to the car was horrendous. It was squashed down to the bonnet and boot level. It was very compacted.''

Both vehicles were travelling side by side towards Arbroath on a small stretch of dual-carriageway beyond the Claypotts traffic lights, just before it converges into a single lane. Diversions were put into operation at both ends of Dundee.

Emergency services were still coming to terms with the trauma of the accident when they were alerted to a second incident at around 8.55am.

At the other end of the city a man suffered a cardiac arrest on Riverside Drive and his car collided with another vehicle containing a woman and two children.

Paramedics treated the man at the scene before taking him to Ninewells Hospital where it is believed he is sitting up in bed and talking to doctors.

The woman and two children were taken to Dundee Royal Infirmary suffering from minor injuries.

Meanwhile, a father spoke yesterday of the moment he feared his four-month-old son had been killed when the family's car plunged down a 300ft ravine at the Pont de Terenez suspension bridge during a family holiday in Brittany. Nigel Ryan, 40, and his wife Claire, 35, had parked their Isuzu Trooper next to the bridge to video the scene. The couple had left their baby, Jasper, asleep in a car seat and as Mr Ryan aimed the camcorder's viewfinder at his wife he saw the car start to roll forward.

He made a vain attempt to stop the vehicle going over the edge of the 300ft drop. He scrambled to the foot of the ravine to find Jasper suffering from nothing more than two scratches on his cheek.