River plunge tragedy

A woman and her two children died when she drove at speed into a river after a blazing family row.

Kelly Toye, 23, was thought to be travelling at 50mph when she hit the water.

The car with her three-year-old son and daughter of six in the back turned upside down and was completely submerged.

The father of the boy, Michael Turner, said today: "She drove off like a maniac. I drove after her but couldn't get to her." He said that by the time he got to the river Lee at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, "all I could see was the back lights of the car in the water".

Mr Turner added: "I broke up with her and she wanted to get back together. But she could not take it when I said no."

He watched firefighters struggle for more than an hour to cut his family free before pulling out the bodies of Ms Toye, her son Brandon Clifton and daughter Courtney Clark. Police are investigating whether she deliberately drove into the river or if the car spun out of control on the narrow road.

There was ice and fog last night and the car went into the river at a sharp bend.

Speaking at the scene today, Mr Turner said: "It was a domestic." He said he dialled 999 then looked on as a major rescue operation was mounted. "I watched three bodies being dragged out of the water. My kid was in that car."

In a statement issued later he said: "They were two children that will dearly missed as will their mum by all family and friends."

The car went into the river 20 minutes after police were called to a domestic dispute at the family home in Broxbourne, near Cheshunt.

The vehicle was completely submerged when police arrived at the scene last night. It took a water rescue team from Essex fire service an hour to cut off the doors.

They then had to winch the car to the side of the river on the Essex-Hertfordshire border.

Ms Toye was freed first and pulled on to the bank. Brandon and Courtney were then cut from the vehicle and handed over to paramedics who tried desperately to resuscitate them.

Two doctors and a nurse from Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield joined in the attempts to revive them but the children were declared dead at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow. Officers were called to reports of a family dispute at about 7pm and left after dealing with it. But shortly afterwards, police said someone called them to say a car had driven into the Lee.

The police spokeswoman said: "Having dealt with the dispute and in the knowledge that the parties involved had dispersed, police left the scene. About 20 minutes later police were called back by someone from that domestic reporting a car in the Lee."

She added that Ms Toye, from Harlow, was not present when police attended the address to deal with the dispute. "It was obviously related as we were called back by one of those involved," she said.

Terri Hambrook, who lives 100 yards from where the car plunged into the water, said she had seen it go past at speed on the narrow riverside track. She added: "It must have been going at about 50mph. I didn't hear it hit the water."

Murray MacGregor of Essex ambulance service, said five ambulances attended the scene. He said: "The crews worked very hard in very difficult circumstances. Despite a 100 per cent effort from everyone, we could not save their lives."

Terry Povey of Essex county fire service said that due to the complexity of the situation Ms Toye was not removed from the car for more than an hour with her children being taken out around 20 minutes later.

He said: "Our crews were equipped with wetsuits and entered the water. They had a look around the car and pulled it towards the bank.

"Unfortunately all the doors and windows were secure. They broke one of the windows and could not reach for anyone so they had to burst one of the doors open, using hydraulic cutting equipment underwater.

"They managed to get the passenger side rear door open and reached inside and felt the leg of the mother. They recovered her and pulled her out of the water.

"We then couldn't find the children from that access point, so we had to put winches onto the vehicle and pull it further into the bank."