Witnesses who dashed to the scene to comfort Katia Belk have spoken of the frantic efforts made to save her and her unborn child.

The tragedy has shocked and angered campaigners who have been calling for safety improvements to the accident blackspot on the B4100 near Aynho.

Mrs Belk, aged 26, was passenger in a car being driven by her husband Sergeant Jeremiah Belk, a US airforceman based at RAF Croughton, who was seriously injured.

The couple had been travelling towards Aynho when their Ford Fiesta was in collision with an oncoming Land Rover near the bridge between Aynho and Souldern on Saturday.

One man who lives nearby rushed to the scene and has told how he cradled the dying woman before the emergency services arrived.

"A woman paramedic was passing and we did what we could for her," said the man, who did not want to be named.
"We continued to ventilate her though it was clear she may not survive. The hope was to keep her alive until the baby could be saved."

A statement from the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust said: "Paramedics tried to resuscitate Mrs Belk to save the baby. The air ambulance took her to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, but unfortunately both baby and mother died."

Thirty-year-old Mr Belk was also taken to the John Radcliffe where he was said to be in a critical condition yesterday (Wednesday).

A second Ford Fiesta was involved in the crash, but no one else was seriously hurt.
The accident happened just after 11am on Saturday and is the third fatal incident at the spot in three years.

In May 13-year-old Tomas Ryan-Vig died when the bus carrying him home from school in Banbury crashed with a tractor.

And in August 2001 Christine Willams from Croughton was a victim of the winding, treacherous route.

The man who helped at Saturday's accident was also among those who went to the scene of the school bus crash.

At the time, he and other locals said it was an accident waiting to happen.

This week he told the Banbury Guardian: "I phoned Northamptonshire highways department first thing on Monday and demanded to know when they are going to do something.
"Our stone wall is a patchwork of repairs where cars have left the road and run into it. The last time it was smashed in May, warning signs were destroyed and they haven't been replaced."

Mrs Belk's death is said to have devastated the RAF Croughton community.
The 422nd Air Base Squadron commander, Lt Col Dave Frye, said: "I would like to express our deepest condolences to the bereaved family for their loss.
"Our thoughts are with the families and with all those recovering from this traumatic event."