A woman has died and two people are fighting for their lives after a car crashed into a tree late last night.
The fatal smash happened on the A194 in Washington on Saturday at around 10.30pm.
It is believed that a silver Audi S3 was travelling westbound when it left the road and hit a tree.
Emergency services rushed to the scene where they found the 27-year-old female passenger dead inside the car, Chronicle Live reports.
Three other occupants in the car were injured and taken to the Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.
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A 33-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman , who were also passengers, are fighting for their lives.
The 35-year-old male driver suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The families all four occupants have been notified and are receiving support from specialist officers.
The A194 westbound was closed for more than five hours to allow crash scene investigators to assess the area and a clear-up operation to take place.
An investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the crash, and police are now appealing for anyone with information to get in touch.
Sergeant Pinner Rana, from Northumbria's Police Motor Patrols department, said: “This is a devastating incident that has sadly resulted in the death of a woman and has seriously injured three other people.
“We are continuing to support the families at this difficult time as we work tirelessly to establish what has happened.
“Our enquiries are ongoing into the circumstances surrounding this collision, and we are now asking anybody who was in the area at the time who saw anything that can assist us to get in touch.
"Please check your dashcam footage and let us know if you saw a Silver Audi A3 around that time on the A194. Even if you did not witness the collision, we would like to see any moments leading up to the collision to help us determine what happened."
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of the website or by calling 101 quoting log 1088 031020.
