Pictured: 'Beautiful' 20-year-old woman killed when BMW ploughed into 'boy racer' car meet crowd sending pedestrians ...

A 20-year-old woman who was killed when a BMW ploughed into pedestrians in Greater Manchester has been pictured for the first time. 

Sophie Louise Smith died of her injuries after the crash in Trafford Park, Manchester, on Thursday evening. 

Friends have been paying tribute to her on social media, calling her a 'beautiful young woman taken far too young'. 

Mourners have left flowers and lit candles near the scene of the accident, spelling out her initials, SLS, the Mirror reports.  

Sophie Louise Smith died of her injuries after the crash in Trafford Park, Manchester

Friends have paid tribute to Sophie, calling her a 'beautiful young woman taken far too young'

The 20-year-old died of the injuries she suffered at the car meet on Thursday evening

Jade Jones wrote: 'I can't believe the news, so heart breaking such a lovely beautiful young woman taken far too young.' 

Another friend, Ella Jayne Haslam, said: 'So sad to hear about this, RIP Sophie never thanked you enough for being my first childhood friend... such a lovely girl.' 

Police said the blue BMW 330D M Sport Auto Estate hit a crowd of people sending victims 'flying everywhere' at 9.49pm in an area known as 'The Magic Roundabout'. 

The driver failed to stop, police said. A blue BMW which is believed to have been involved in the collision was later found in neighbouring Salford.  

In the early hours of Friday, police detained a 21-year-old man on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop after a collision.

A 26-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. 

Emergency services raced to the scene in Trafford Park, Manchester after five people were seriously injured when a BMW ploughed into them

Officers from Greater Manchester Police and a force helicopter were at the scene. A 21-year-old man has been arrested

Parts of Trafford Park, a huge industrial estate with stretches of long straight roads and roundabouts, much of it deserted at night, has become known locally as a place used as a race track for car enthusiasts, at times attracting dozens of spectators. 

Ryan Currie, 23, of Didsbury, said he saw three people and a dog get 'launched into the air'.

He said: 'The car then drove through them and carried on without stopping.

'At this point I heard the dog yelping and running round, loads of people ran over to attend to the injured.

'A huge crowd gathered round, ringing ambulances and police.'

Four ambulances and a hazardous area response team were scrambled to the scene, along with three senior clinicians.

There is no evidence to suggest the incident is terrorism-related at this stage, according to officers. 

Greater Manchester Police's Chief Superintendent Wayne Millar appealed for information today and said around 60 vehicles were at the car meet at the time.

He added: 'First and foremost our thoughts are with the victims and families at this very difficult time.

'On arrival of emergency services, they were faced with a horrific scene and such was the number of casualties it was declared a major incident.

'We've been working very closely with Trafford Council to deal with this, since February 2017 there's been a Public Space Protection Order in force for that area and during that time we've made a number of arrests, seized a number of vehicles, we've engaged with those that are participating in these car meets.

Police officers and a recovery vehicle were pictured at the scene of the crash this morning

This was the scene in Trafford Park yesterday morning. A car ploughed into a crowd of people on Europa Way, in Manchester, leaving several seriously injured

'We've also sent a number of warning letters and also reported a number of people for several offences.'

His colleague Jo Rogerson added: 'We now have a man in custody and we will be questioning him under caution as part of our investigation.

'This is an extremely serious incident that we are dealing with and I cannot stress the importance of people contacting us if they know something.

'Any information, no matter how insignificant people think it may be, could be the piece that we need so please, call us.' 

A North West Ambulance Service spokesman said last night: 'We were called at 9.49pm to reports of a collision between a car and pedestrians.

'We currently have five patients, all in a serious condition. 

'We have four ambulances, an advanced paramedic, a senior clinician and three hazardous area response teams (HART) at the scene.' 

Officers are trying to determine how exactly five people were seriously injured in the crash

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