TWO men injured in a road traffic accident died within two days of each other but two months after the accident happened.

Kenneth Horsman, 49, of Chester-le-Street, suffered multiple injuries when his Land Rover Freeloader veered into the path of a van heading in the opposite direction on the A690 near Brandon last November.

Van driver Thomas Cross, 52, of Tow Law, suffered a broken right fibula, a relatively minor injury.

But the cause of the crash that claimed their lives in January remains unknown, an inquest heard yesterday.

Accident investigator PC Andy Edgar told the inquest that the accident happened at about 4.35pm on Wednesday, November 18, near Scripton Gill Road when the Freelander for “some unknown reason’’ drifted into the path of the van.

PC Edgar said there were no defects with either vehicle, neither driver had used a mobile phone and there was no suggestion they had been speeding or were drunk.

Newcastle-based forensic pathologist Dr Gemma Kemp said Mr Horsman died from multiple organ failure due to the multiple injuries he suffered in the collision.

Clive Bloxham, consultant pathologist at Darlington Memorial Hospital, said Mr Cross’s sudden and unexpected death was caused by a blood clot in his lung linked to the immobility caused by his leg injury.

Recording verdicts of accidental death on both men, Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle said: “I am not able to give any explanation for why the collision took place in the first place.

“There is no evidence from which to draw any conclusions at all.

“It would be wrong of me to speculate on what caused it because there is no evidence at all.”

Mr Cross’s family said in a statement after the hearing: “Tommy was only 52 when he died at his address. His life was cut short following a tragic accident where he sustained injuries and tragically died eight weeks later.

“Tommy worked as a painter and decorator and was travelling from work to his home in Tow Law at the time of the accident. Tommy left a loving partner of 20 years, Valerie, his mother Miriam, his sister, Gail, two sons, Thomas and Adam, four step-daughters, Mandy, Sharon, Caroline and Annette, brother-in-law Shane and niece Kerry, who will deeply miss him. He was loved by many and will be missed by all who knew him.”