A23 crash dead rises to eight

The death toll from a sevencar pile-up has risen to eight after a boy aged two and a critically injured woman died in hospital.

The toddler and the woman were travelling in a Land Rover Freelander which collided with a black BMW on the A23 at Pyecombe, near Brighton, on Sunday afternoon as day-trippers returned home from the coast.

The victims, whose identities have not yet been released, were taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton but died late last night.

Three women and two men, all in their twenties, died despite frantic efforts to save them when the BMW they were travelling in lost control and careered across the central reservation.

A male passenger in the Freelander also died. The driver is today still in a critical condition.

Police chiefs today repeated their appeal for witnesses to the crash which happened at

4.30pm.

The road was closed for 15 hours while the emergency services dealt with the dead and injured and the Sussex Police forensic collision unit launched an inquiry.

Inspector Jon Brydon from Haywards Heath said: "We are anxious to speak with anyone who may not have contacted us as yet."

Witnesses are asked to contact the Haywards Heath road policing unit on 0845 60 70 999.

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