A man and an eight-year-old girl were killed after a car crashed into a tree in Co Antrim yesterday.
Another two young girls, aged five and four, are injured but stable in hospital after the incident shortly after 9am. The man who died was aged 30, police said.
The vehicle, a black Ford Escort, ended up wrapped around a tree and the emergency services had to cut the roof off to gain access.
A lorry is believed to have been involved in the collision on the Ballyhill Road, Crumlin, and police were called to the scene. The road was closed to traffic for a time.
SDLP South Antrim Assemblyman Thomas Burns said it was a horrific scene.
"The car looks horrendous. There is a damaged lorry at the scene and it is being removed at present," he said.
"I know there are another two children seriously ill in hospital. The front of the car took the whole of the impact."
Ballyhill Road is a narrow, bumpy, country road, but the accident happened on a straight stretch. "This is an horrendous tragedy so close to Christmas and my thoughts go out to the family, whose lives have been blighted," said Mr Burns.