Two British women killed alongside eight dogs in Romania four-vehicle pile-up on rescue mission

From the Newshound archive · first published 28 September 2026.

Allison Condon, 61, from Northamptonshire, and Rachael Harvey-Purkiss, 41, from Essex, died when their minibus veered onto the wrong side of the DN6 road near Vălișoara and crashed head-on into an HGV, which struck a second lorry, trapping them between the two vehicles. The pair were transporting ten dogs to France for UK charity Homeward Bound when the collision occurred just after 11am on Thursday. Eight of the dogs also died at the scene, with at least one survivor now in the care of a Romanian rescue shelter. A 60-year-old driver was also injured in the crash.

Sammie Condon, Allison's daughter, wrote: 'This wasn't supposed to happen — I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact it did.'

Homeward Bound founder Claire Dalton said she is 'heartbroken', with the women described by colleagues as 'two beautiful rare diamonds.'