Mother and children killed in car crash
Father and youngest child critically injured in crash with HGV that left their car ‘crumpled like a can’
A mother and three of her children were killed when their people carrier “crumpled like a can” after colliding with an HGV. Zoe Powell, 29, a blogger and illustrator, died in the crash on the A40 near Oxford along with her daughter Phoebe, eight. Her son Simeon, six, and daughter Amelia, four, died shortly afterwards in hospital. The children’s father, Joshua Powell, 30, and an 18-month-old daughter, are in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
THREE children and their mother were killed in a “horrendous” collision when their people carrier “crumpled like a can” after colliding with an HGV.
Zoe Powell, 29, a blogger and illustrator, and her eight-year-old daughter Phoebe, were pronounced dead at the scene on the A40 near Oxford on Monday night.
Her son Simeon, six, and daughter Amelia, four, died shortly afterwards in hospital.
The children’s father, Joshua Powell, 30, and 18-month-old daughter, are in a critical but stable condition in hospital.
The family’s silver Subaru collided with a white HGV near a railway bridge just west of Oxford at 9.50pm, Thames Valley Police said.
The 56-year- old lorry driver, who suffered minor injuries, is helping police with their enquiries. The Powell family is from Chinnor, Oxon, and are active members of Chinnor Community Church, where Mr Powell, a civil engineer, ran a youth group. The children attended the local primary school.
Mrs Powell, who ran her own business selling illustrated gifts, stationery and story books, had written extensively about her experiences of being a mother and the “simple joys” of raising a family.
She wrote online: “There are crazy, messy, stressful moments, but they are also scattered through with many beautiful, everyday, wonderful moments.
“Things that we take for granted, which just are the way they are – like the cot they are lowered into, the pram we push, the car seat we buckle or the shoes we tie – they move on and change and we look back and realise that those everyday things were beautiful.”
She wrote about her “deep love” of books, painting and illustrating the gifts she sold online. “Everything is brought to life in my home studio, where I often paint alongside one or several of my four children,” she wrote. Mrs Powell, who is originally from Cheltenham, also published and sold a “Mama book” – a journal designed to help mothers cope by providing “mental space” and the chance to reflect on demands that she acknowledged could be overwhelming.
David Patchett, 36, from Oxford, was the first person on the scene of the crash after hearing a “loud explosion” that shook his narrow boat. “Other boaters in the area thought it was a sonic boom; it was an epic sound; it was enough to make your heart jump,” he said.
“I grabbed my phone and shoes and ran out at full pelt down the road while trying to dial 999. I knew it wasn’t a good sound. The first thing I saw was the lorry on the wrong side of the road. I continued running towards the car, that’s where I could have collapsed to my knees.
“The car was in the middle of the road, it wasn’t just front-end damage it looked like it had been crumpled like a can.”
Neighbours revealed yesterday that the Powell family had suffered “tragedy after tragedy”, having been forced to move out of their home following a devastating house fire a few months ago.
One said: “They were a lovely family. They were renting somewhere else in Chinnor in the meantime because there was a house fire, as you can see the whole house is boarded up. It is a devastating shame.”
Sgt Dominic Mahon said officers were in the very early stages of the investigation into what he described as an “incredibly tragic” and “horrendous” incident.
“We will leave no stone unturned to ascertain what has caused this tragedy,” he said.
At Chinnor Community Church, a cross was erected in memory of the family.