TWO 13-year-old girls have died after a three-car crash at a notorious Sussex blackspot.

Five people were taken to St Richards Hospital, Chichester, after the pile-up in Pagham Road, Pagham, but the teenagers were found to be dead.

They were passengers in a Vauxhall Astra travelling

towards Chichester when it was in collision with a

BMW travelling in the opposite direction near the Royal Oak pub.

A Ford Sierra which was following the BMW was also involved.

Five ambulance crews, the Sussex Police helicopter, and firefighters went to the crash scene. The 18-year-old male driver of the Vauxhall Astra and

a 14-year-old girl passenger in the car are still being treated in hospital for spinal and back injuries.

Their injuries are not life-threatening.

A married couple in the BMW also needed hospital attention for back injuries, but were later released.

Neither of the people in the Ford Sierra were injured.

Today, one of the girls was named as Dionne Semerdeck.

Friends and relatives were today visiting the family home in Crouch Cross Lane, in Boxgrove.

The quiet community was in shock after hearing the news of the weekend crash.

Friends outside the family's semi-detached house said they were too upset to speak.

The narrow country lane at the scene of the crash was closed for several hours while the victims were freed from the wreckage.

A Sussex Ambulance Service spokes-man said: "This area is a notorious accident blackspot. Whenever we have any accident reported there we automatically respond with several ambulances because they are usually quite serious."

Ken Hannam, landlord of the Royal Oak, said: "The first thing we knew about it was when the police came down and started directing the traffic. It sounded pretty bad."

Arun district

councillor Leonard Brown, who represents Pagham, said: "This

is tragic for the

families.

"Any crash is bad,

but when there are children involved it makes it even worse.

"I would not say it

is a dangerous road, but the speed of traffic has always been a bit of a worry down there."

Accident investigators spent most of

yesterday at the scene.

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