Woman, 59, and four runaway horses die in horror crash on Scots road

A woman died in a horror crash after a group of escaped horses caused havoc on a busy A-road near Glasgow.

The 59-year-old, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene after the Mercedes A-class car she was a passenger in collided with a MAN box van in the early hours of the morning.

Motorists had called police to report a group of six horses running loose on the A737 near Howwood, Renfrewshire, at around the time of the accident at 3.10am on Monday.

Four of the horses perished after being struck by vehicles, with the other two being led to safety from the road after the incident.

Police and ambulance crews attended but the woman could not be saved and officers are now providing support to her family.

The 52-year-old male driver of the Mercedes was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, in Glasgow.

A 33-year-old man who was a passenger in the car and a 59-year-old man who was driving the van were taken to Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital for assessment.

The road was closed for nearly 11 hours for crash investigation work to be carried out and police have appealed for witnesses or drivers with dashcam footage to come forward.

The horses are believed to have escaped from a nearby field.

Sergeant Jack Swindells said: ‘We are providing support to the family of the woman who died as our enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances of this crash.

Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport

‘We would appeal to anyone who was driving on the A737 on Monday morning around the time of the crash who either witnessed the crash take place or seen the horses running on the road.

‘Anyone with dash-cam footage is also asked to please contact us as soon as possible.’

Meanwhile officers have named the 32-year-old man who died in a crash in Kirkcudbrightshire on Friday as Ross Wood.

Police were called to the A75 near to Springholm, Castle Douglas, around 1.15am on September 20, following the crash between a silver Ford Mondeo and white Scania lorry.

Ross, who was driving the Mondeo, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 57-year-old driver of the Scania was taken to Galloway Royal Infirmary as a precaution.

Enquiries into the incident remain ongoing.

Sergeant Neil Moffat said: ‘Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Mr Wood at this very difficult time.

‘We continue to appeal to anyone who may have seen what happened to get in touch. Likewise, if you have dash-cam footage that could assist with our investigation then contact officers.’