The mother of a teenage boy who died along with two other people in a head-on crash at a Sussex accident blackspot said today: "I can't believe he's gone."

Aaron Hogg, 13, was a passenger in a Ford Granada which exploded in flames after the smash in Queensway, a 60mph bypass north of Hastings.

Mechanic Ken Thornett, 48, was at the wheel. He was also killed instantly.

Mr Thornett's partner, who was 32, was fighting for life today at a specialist unit in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

Two of Mr Thornett's daughters, aged 12 and 14, were seriously hurt and are at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings where their conditions were said to be improving.

All are from Sussex.

The 31-year-old driver of the second car, a Citroen ZX, was also killed in the crash, just before 10pm on Monday.

He was from Tonbridge, Kent. His male passenger, from Hastings, was seriouslyhurt. Doctors today described his condition as comfortable.

At her home in Whatlington Way, less than half a mile from the scene of the tragedy, Aaron's mother, Sheena Hogg, 31, said: "I feel completely numb. Aaron was such a popular kid - everyone liked him.

"Nobody had a bad word to say about him. I just can't believe he's gone - it's incredible."

She said Aaron, a pupil at Hillcrest School in Hastings, was being driven home from an evening with the Army cadets when the accident happened.

His five siblings, aged ten to 16, were today coming to terms with the terrible news.

Emergency teams described carnage at the crash scene.

The Ford had shattered into pieces and burst into flames. Skidmarks stretched more than 100 metres up the road from the blackened scene of the impact, near the Crowborough turn-off.

Wreckage was strewn across the road and nearby fields.

Firefighters and paramedics worked through the night at the scene under lights.

The road was closed for eight hours, reopening at 6am.

The first emergency vehicle on the scene was an ambulance which happened to be passing on its way to the Conquest Hospital with another casualty.

Assistant Divisional Officer Dave Owen headed four crews of firefighters.

He said: "The first appliance arrived to find quite a horrific crash site.

"The Granada was on the verge on the west side of the road and was well alight.

"The Citroen was on the opposite verge. Both cars were very badly damaged.

"Paramedics were already tending to some injured people at the roadside.

"Some passengers had escaped the Granada but two people were reported as still being inside the burning car.

"We turned our attentions to putting that out that straight away and getting them out alive if we could. Unfortunately it wasn't to be.

"Other firefighters were deployed to free the two occupants of the Citroen using cutting equipment. One male passenger was freed but the driver died."

Firefighters used thermal imaging cameras to search the surrounding woodland and long grass for any other casualties.

Mr Owen said: "The crash was so severe there was a chance people might have been thrown from vehicles or casualties might have wandered off, dazed, and collapsed."

The police helicopter was called in to search the wider area.

Crash investigation officers began a painstaking inspection of the area. High speed is one line of inquiry.

Flowers and messages of grief were laid beside a circle of grass cinders at Queensway. One read: "Aaron. Too young to die. Rest in peace. I will always remember your smile."

Another stated: "Pops, rest in peace, mate. We will all miss you."

A team of crash investigators was looking for clues to the cause of the accident. Their inquiry has been codenamed Operation Cannock.

They appealed for witnesses to contact Sergeant Paul Masterson at Bexhill Road policing department on 0845 6070999.

Queensway, a 60mph road linking The Ridge and lower Hollington, is Hastings and St Leonards' most notorious road with a reputation for horrific multiple death crashes.

In September 2002, Hastings College student Emma Anderson, 18, and 90-year-old Audrey Johnson were killed in one of Hastings' worst road accidents.

Three young men were killed in an horrific crash in Queensway in September 1999.

Driver Robert Larrard, 24, from St Leonards, was almost twice over the drink-drive limit when his Lancia Delta overturned and burst into flames after a head-on crash with a car at the junction with The Ridge in September 1999.

The 90mph crash killed him and his friends Leonard Benton, 30, from St Leonards, and 22-year-old Jason King, from Maidstone.