River Wye Crash: How Girl Escaped Submerged Car

The wife of a man who died after his car crashed into a river - moments before hers did the same thing - has praised her children for the way they were able to escape the vehicles.

Ruth Cox has paid tribute to a "wonderful and loving" father following husband David Cox's death in Derbyshire.

In a statement, she has revealed that their daughter Tess dived into the icy water to escape the submerged car.

Mr Cox, 42, and his wife were driving 11-year-old Tess and Ioan, nine, in separate cars on the school run on Thursday when they both skidded off a narrow path into the River Wye.

Tess managed to escape her father's Toyota Aygo and get safely to the riverbank, but Mr Cox died after being trapped in the car for around 40 minutes.

In her statement, Mr Cox's widow said: "I am very proud of our daughter Tess. She held her breath and dived under the water to look for a way out of the car.

"Tess then swam to the far bank. I am also very proud of our son Ioan. Whilst the car was filling with water he kept calm and attempted to unsuccessfully smash the rear side window."

She added: "We were both able to get out of the car and on to the river bank. I am very proud of how they ran back down the lane to the cottages to raise the alarm."

Mrs Cox, who thanked friends, neighbours and the emergency services for their help and support, said her husband had loved living at Blackwell Mill and working for the BBC.

In her statement, she said: "David was a wonderful loving father, husband, brother and son. We were a very happy family and I will do my utmost to make us a happy family again."

The head of the BBC has also paid tribute to Mr Cox, where he worked in the Salford-based Future Media team.

Acting BBC director-general Tim Davie praised Mr Cox's role in the corporation's coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"We are very sad to learn of David's tragic death. He was a popular member of the Future Media team in Salford and had been key to the success of the red button service during the Olympics in the summer.

"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues here at the BBC at this difficult time."