A woman and four horses have been killed after an early morning road crash on the A737 near Howwood this morning.
Police, fire and ambulance services were called to the crash involving a Mercedes A-class car and a MAN box van. A number of calls around that time also reported six horses running loose on the A737.
The call was received at around 3.10am.
A 59-year-old woman, a passenger in the Mercedes was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 52-year-old man the driver of the car was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow.
A 33-year-old man who was a passenger in the car and a 59-year-old man driving the van were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley for assessment.
Four of the horses died after being struck by vehicles and two were taken to safety.
The road was closed between Howwood and Kilbarchan while an investigation was carried out. A signed 2.8 mile diversion route was put in place and road reopened at 2pm.
Sergeant Jack Swindells said: “We are providing support to the family of the woman who died as our enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances of this crash.
“We would appeal to anyone who was driving on the A737 on Monday morning around the time of the crash who either witnessed the crash take place or seen the horses running on the road. Anyone with dash-cam footage is also asked to please contact us as soon as possible.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 0291 of 23 September.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 3.23am on Monday, 23rd September to reports of a 2-vehicle road traffic collision on the A737 between Howwood and Kilbarchan, in Renfrewshire.
“Operations Control mobilised three appliances and specialist resources to the scene.
“Three casualties were removed from vehicles and passed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.
“Crews left the scene around 5.20am after ensuring the area was made safe.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 03:22 to attend a road traffic collision on A737 at Howwood, Johnstone. Four ambulances, three special operations response teams (SORT) and one paramedic response unit were dispatched to the scene.
“Two patients were transported to the Royal Alexandria Hospital and one patient to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.”
Headline photo: Library photo of A737
Photo Credit: Renfrewshire News