Police have today named the two people who died after an accident on the A9 in Perthshire on Friday night.
Seven-year-old Lochgelly boy Cole Jay Gibson died over the weekend from injuries sustained in the crash. He had been seriously hurt in the two-car collision on the Perth to Inverness road, around two miles south of Dunkeld.
A 31-year-old man, Michael Patrick Joyce, from the Canongate area of Edinburgh, had died at the scene despite the best efforts of medical teams. He was a front-seat passenger in the same vehicle as Cole.
Cole and the 29-year-old female driver of the Renault Kangoo were rushed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where their injuries were described from the outset as serious.
Police confirmed in the early hours of Sunday morning that the child had died, while the woman’s condition was updated to serious but stable.
The trio were travelling north on the A9 in the silver Kangoo when they were involved in a collision with a dark blue Peugeot, travelling in the opposite direction, shortly after 7.30pm.
All five were trapped in the wreckage of their vehicles as emergency services raced to the scene.
Firefighters had to use hydraulic cutting equipment to free them, while four medical teams and the trauma team from Ninewells worked at the roadside.
The two occupants of the southbound vehicle were also taken to hospital, where they were both described as being in a ”stable” condition.
The police have since confirmed that the female driver of the Peugeot has been allowed home.
The road was closed for seven hours while the emergency services assisted those involved in the accident and carried out crash investigations.
Inquiries into the circumstances of the incident are continuing.
The police are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident and has not already contacted them to do so by calling 0300 111 2222 as soon as possible.
A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.