A British woman has died along with two other people in a three-car collision on a motorway in northern France.
More than 65 firefighters and nine ambulances attended the crash on Sunday evening, which involved eight children and involved a British nine-seater family vehicle and two other cars on the A26 near Neuville-Saint-Vaast and Thélus.
Three people were killed and five are in a critical condition.
Miriam Posen, a mother of 10 and a member of the Orthodox Jewish community in Stamford Hill, London, has been named in media reports as among those who have died. Her husband, Rabbi Shalom Pinchos Posen, and two of her daughters are understood to be among those injured.
On social media, her son, Izzy Posen paid tribute to his mother: “My mother sadly passed away yesterday in tragic circumstances. She was young and healthy and full of the spirit of life. I loved her so much,” he wrote on Twitter.
The incident took place near roadworks and involved 17 people in total, including seven British citizens.
Posen, believed to be in her 40s, was reportedly travelling with six members of her family when the crash happened. Reports suggest a 75-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, travelling in another car, were also killed. Two other passengers in that car, a 14-year-old boy and a 79-year-old man, were among those taken to hospital in a critical condition.
The third vehicle was carrying four passengers, including three children, the youngest six.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are in contact with the local authorities following a road traffic accident in France and have offered our assistance to the family.”
Two of the people critically injured were transported by helicopter to hospitals in Lille and Arras, according to French officials.
A spokesperson for French prosecutors in Arras told the PA news agency that it was looking into the incident, and that those involved would be interviewed when their health improved.
Jacques Billant, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, thanked emergency services for their “responsiveness and professionalism in the management of this event and the assistance provided to the victims”.
Those who attended the scene have been offered psychological support.
