Chinnor crash death family: More than £60k raised for father

More than £60,000 has been raised to help a man whose wife and three children were killed in a crash.

Zoe Powell, 29, died with Phoebe, eight, when their people carrier collided with a lorry in Oxfordshire.

Simeon, six, and four-year old Amelia, died at John Radcliffe Hospital where their father, Josh, 30, and 18-month-old sister remain.

A JustGiving page set up by a railway worker colleague of Mr Powell was set up with an initial £1,000 target.

More than 1,700 people have now contributed to Andrew Welsford's campaign, which is to help Mr Powell with financial support during his recovery.

Mr Powell and his daughter are in a serious condition but showing signs of improvement and "expected to make a recovery", Thames Valley Police said.

The crash happened on the A40, near a railway bridge between Oxford and Cassington, at 21:50 BST on Monday.

Mrs Powell, who had lived in Chinnor since the mid-2010s but was previously from Sheffield, was a blogger who wrote about motherhood, family life and the challenges of having young children.

She created a specialised diary called The Mama Book, which was written to help young mothers find "mental space in the midst of motherhood".

The deaths on Monday night came just months after the family lost everything in a blaze at their home in Chinnor.

The 56-year-old driver of the lorry involved in the crash suffered minor injuries.

No arrests have been made.

Sgt Dominic Mahon thanked those who provided witness statements and offered to help at the "distressing" scene, and offered thanks on behalf of the Powell family to those who left messages of condolence via the police force and in Chinnor.

He said the force was supporting the family of the victims as well as the driver of the HGV, who "has co-operated fully with our investigation and provided a witness statement to police".

"This investigation is ongoing, and I would again urge people to not speculate as to the cause of this tragic collision," he said.

"We have not made any arrests, and so speculation is not only unhelpful, but also would cause great distress to all those involved.

"We know that this tragedy has affected not only the local community in Chinnor, but also the wider Oxfordshire community and across the country."