Buxton river crash: Man dies after family cars overturn Published duration 24 January 2013

media caption The vehicles overturned and entered the River Wye in Buxton just before 09:00 GMT, as Jane McCubbin reports

A 42-year-old father has died after two cars carrying four members of the same family on a school run crashed into a Derbyshire river.

The vehicles were being driven along a bridle path near to the Monsal Trail, north of the A6 near Buxton, when they came off the path and went into the River Wye at about 08:30 GMT.

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue said the "weather certainly contributed".

The man, a woman, 39, a girl, 11, and a boy, nine, were taken to hospital.

Derbyshire Police said each parent set off on the school run independently and went into the river five minutes apart.

At about 08:31 GMT, the father and his daughter were in a Toyota Aygo when it left the path and went into the water.

image caption The fire service said snow and ice on the road contributed to the accident

About five minutes later, the mother and her son, in a Toyota Rav4, left the path and also entered the river, close to the first vehicle.

Jayne McCubbin, BBC correspondent at the scene, said the family tried to raise the alarm but "there is no mobile phone signal in this area".

After the accident, the mother managed to free the two children but the father remained stuck.

They ran about half a mile back up the hill for help, alerting the neighbours who jumped into the icy water to try and rescue the man.

They were joined by a police officer and, not long after, the fire service.

The man was eventually freed at about 09:15 GMT, 40 minutes after he first entered the water.

The family were treated at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, where the man later died.

Meanwhile, the mother and two children have since been assessed and discharged from the hospital.

The accident happened close to the Topley Pike Quarry and the A6 was closed to traffic while recovery work took place.

Paul Hawker, station manager at Buxton fire station, said they believed both cars had lost control on the same area of snow or ice minutes after each other.

He was the first fireman on the scene and saw two people trying to rescue the man from the car.

He said: "The police officer who had already got into the water at that stage, managed to retrieve the casualty and so at that stage we all managed to pull him to the bank side, get him to the track and begin CPR."