Three children and woman die in ‘incredibly tragic’ crash on A40

Two more passengers, a 30-year-old man and 18-month-old girl, remain in hospital in critical condition

A 29-year-old woman and three children, from the same family, have died in a fatal road traffic collision on the A40, near Oxford.

Emergency services responded to reports of a two-vehicle collision at 9.50pm on Monday night, involving a silver Subaru and a white HGV near a railway overbridge to the west of Oxford.

The three children – a 4-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy – and the woman, from Chinnor in Oxfordshire, were all pronounced dead at the scene.

A 30-year-old man and an 18-month-old girl, who were two other passengers in the Subaru, were taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. They both remain in critical condition.

Thames Valley Police said the driver of the HGV, a 56-year-old man, suffered minor injuries. The A40 was closed in both directions for accident investigation work, but reopened at around 1.15pm.

Dominic Mahon, Senior Investigating Officer Sergeant of the serious collision investigation unit, described the incident as “incredibly tragic”.

He appealed to the public for help, and asked that anyone who was driving in the area at the time of the collision to please contact 101 or make a report online with the reference number 43200321914.

“I would also urge anybody who has dash-cam footage of the incident or either of the vehicles just prior to the incident to please not share this publicly, but contact police with this detail,” he added.

Sgt Mahon warned against speculating about the cause of the collision. He said the force would “leave no stone unturned” to determine the cause of the tragedy.

“The next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.

“The thoughts of all of us at Thames Valley Police,a long with our partners who have assisted at the scene or at the hospital, are with the families at this incredibly difficult time.”

He also paid tribute to “officers, first responders and medical professionals” who responded to the “extremely upsetting scene”, and thanked them for working through the night.

Oxford City Council leader Susan Brown said: “Horrible, horrible news and my thoughts are not just with the family and friends but with all those professionals doing their jobs who have seen sights they will sadly never forget.”