Baby girl abandoned in car crash 'critical'

A one-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital today after being abandoned in a car crash.

The child, who had to endure freezing conditions before emergency services arrived, has serious head injuries.

A woman, who is believed to be the baby's mother, was also found badly injured and trapped in the wreck. But another man and a woman who were also in the car, fled the scene and left them there.

The accident took place when a red Fiesta carrying the baby and three adults skidded off the icy road between Bicknacre and East Hanningfield, near Chelmsford, yesterday morning, hit a telegraph pole and overturned.

A second car - a maroon Cavalier - pulled up at the scene as a man and woman scrambled from the wreck. The woman driver got out to help. But she stood helplessly as the man from the Fiesta, his face dripping with blood, barged past her, jumped into her car and drove off at high speed.

The woman who emerged from the crashed vehicle with him is thought to have disappeared on foot although the child and the second woman were hurt.

She did not get far before being found by emergency services who gave her treatment for an injured leg. But on the way to Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, she told the crew that she was near home and insisted on limping away. The baby was later transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

The woman, believed to be her mother, also has life-threatening head injuries. The stolen Vauxhall Cavalier has been recovered by police after being abandoned.

Police are baffled over why the two adults decided to abandon the mother and child.

One possible explanation is that all the occupants of the overturned vehicle were "travellers" who were desperate to avoid any contact with the police.

Police said they were keen to speak to the runaways who could be in need of urgent medical treatment. The man was about 5ft 8in with black wavy hair.

The woman who fled the scene after him was about 30 with long hair and a cold sore on her top lip. She wore blue jeans and a jumper.

Anyone who sees them is being urged to contact police.