The three people killed in a St Stephen's Day crash in Co Tyrone have been named locally.
Patrick Rogers, who was in his 20s, and Jennifer Acheson, who was in her 80s, were the drivers of the two vehicles which were in collision on the Cookstown to Dungannon Road at around 3.30pm yesterday.
Mr Rogers' mother-in-law Mary Duffy, who was in her 50s, was also killed in the collision.
Mr Rogers' wife and their four children were passengers in their Nissan X-Trail. They were injured in the collision and remain in hospital. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
A specialist investigation team is trying to establish the cause of the collision.
Superintendent Stephen Murray District Commander for Mid Ulster, said that "any loss of life is a cause of great sadness and it feels particularly tragic at Christmas".
Superintendent Murray also commended members of the public who provided assistance at the scene and officers and other emergency services for their "caring and professional approach in these very tragic circumstances".
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said it deployed two rapid response teams and several emergency crews after receiving an emergency call at 3.29pm.
It is understood that the vehicles were involved in a head-on collision on the road about 3km outside Cookstown.
A large section of Dungannon Road was closed for a time earlier but has since reopened.
Forensic officers worked at the scene until late last night to try to establish what happened.
Police have appealed to anyone who was in the area at the time and witnessed the collision or has dashcam footage or any other relevant information to contact them.
Sinn Féin's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill, who represents Mid Ulster, last night extended her sympathies to the families of those killed and injured describing what happened as "deeply tragic".
"I offer my heartfelt sympathies to the families of those tragically killed and every best wish to those injured for a full and speedy recovery," she said.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said his thoughts and prayers were with all those involved, and the emergency services who attended the scene and hospital staff treating the injured.
SDLP MLA for Mid-Ulster Patsy McGlone said "the entire community is in shock" at the news.
Speaking to RTÉ's News, he said: "What do you say, what can you say? Just speaking to people last night and indeed again in touch with people again this morning, the entire community is in shock."
A woman who died in a separate accident earlier in the day in the same area has also been named.
She was Imelda Quinn, a nurse who was in her 40s.
She died when her car left the M1 motorway near Dungannon around 1.30pm on St Stephen's Day.
She was a mother of two young children.
Patsy McGlone said it was very sad to have two incidents so close to each other.
"Within 12 miles of each other there are two awful tragedies at Christmastime, and Christmas will never, ever be the same again for those families," he said.
"Most people look forward to the festive season but we always think of and remember in our thoughts and prayers those who at Christmas, where there's the empty chair."
With additional reporting by Vincent Kearney
