A WOMAN and young boy have died and a man is fighting for his life in hospital following a crash on a major road near Downham Market this morning.

The incident happened at 7.30am on the A134 at Crimplesham and involved a gold BMW which crashed into a tree.

The emergency services, including an East Anglian Air Ambulance crew, raced to the scene with police officers shutting the road and diverting traffic until 11am.

Two fire crews from Downham Market and Methwold attended the scene and firefighters assisted the paramedics.

There were three occupants in the car. The male driver, who is thought to be in his late 20s, was flown by air ambulance to Addenbrookes hospital for treatment to serious injuries.

The female passenger, believed to be in her early 20s, died at the scene and a young boy, thought aged 15 months, was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn, for treatment but later died from his injuries.

Police believe them to be local to the East Anglia area are and they are thought to be Eastern European foreign nationals.

One driver who came across the crash this morning and stopped to help those involved until the emergency services arrived described it as an “nasty accident”.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust confirmed two land ambulances and a rapid response car were sent to the scene and said the injuries suffered by the man and child were “critical”.

The spokesman added: “This is an incredibly tragic incident. Despite best efforts of the crews involved the woman could not be saved and the child and man are in a serious condition. Our thoughts are with all those affected.”

An East Anglian Air Ambulance spokesman said the crew of Anglia Two landed in a field next to the incident and doctors Dan Nevin and Michaela Zasa along with and critical care paramedic Jemma Varela treated the man at the scene for multiple injuries and anaesthetised him prior to rapidly flying him to hospital.