Three-year-old girl dies and teen fighting for her life after crash
A three-year-old girl has died following a crash on the Coast Road between Horden and Blackhall Colliery.
The crash has also left a 17-year-old girl fighting for h e r li fe in h o s p i tal af te r a blue Peugeot 206, which was travelling from Blackhall Colliery towards Horden, collided with a silver van travelling in the opposite direction at around 2.30pm on Wednesday.
The three-year-old girl, wh o wa s a pa s s e n ge r i n the Peugeot, was later pronounced dead at hospital.
A 1 7-yea r - o l d g i rl a l s o sustained life-threatening injuries in the collision and remains in hospital.
The North East Ambulance Service confirmed that they had taken seven patients to hospital following the incident.
Durham Constabulary say the Peugeot driver and other occupants in the car all sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.
The driver of the van was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The Great North Air Ambulance Service sent two air ambulances to the scene and it is believed the Yorkshire Air Ambulance also assisted emergency services.
Bouquets of flowers and teddy bears have now been left at the scene of the crash.
Tributes have also flooded in on social media as
members of the community shares their condolences with the family and all those
involved in the tragedy.
The road was closed for a number of hours while emergency services dealt with the incident and for investigators to begin inquiries at the scene.
Officers are appealing for anyone who witnesses the crash or saw the vehicles in the area beforehand to contact police.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “The road was closed for a number of hours to allow collision inve s t i gato r s to wo rk at th e scene.
“O f f i c e r s wou l d l i ke to speak to anyo ne who w itnessed the collision, or who saw the vehicles being driven in the area beforehand.
“We w ou l d a l s o l i ke to speak to anyone who may have dashcam footage of the vehicles.
“Anyone with any information is asked to call Durham Constabulary on 101, quoting incident number 207 of September 2.”