Brother and sister orphaned by crash

Two young children have been orphaned by a head-on car crash on a country road.

An eight-year-old girl and her brother, six, are in a critical condition in hospital today following the accident in which their parents died.

The two children were flown to hospital in separate helicopters after their parents' Toyota Carina collided head-on with a Subaru Impreza yesterday on the A4130, between Henley and Wallingford in Oxfordshire.

The children's parents were pronounced dead at the scene.

The boy suffered serious injuries to his head, leg and stomach and his sister received serious arm, leg and minor head injuries.

The driver of the other car suffered a back injury and cuts.

The crash happened on a stretch of road known as Gang's Down Hill, a noted accident blackspot. A police officer at the scene said: "This is a notoriously bad road and it was harrowing for the first officers on the scene."