A US congresswoman and three others have been killed in a car crash in the state of Indiana.
Republican Jackie Walorski died in what police say was a head-on collision in Elkhart County at around 12.30pm on Wednesday.
Ms Walorski, 58, had represented Indiana’s 2nd congressional district since 2012.
Police say a northbound passenger car travelled left of the centre line and collided head-on with a southbound SUV.
The Elkhart County Coroner’s Office and the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office are conducting the investigation.
Ms Walorski’s communications director, Emma Thomson, 27, and Zachery Potts, 28, a district director for the
lawmaker, were also killed, the sheriff’s office confirmed.
The driver of the other vehicle, 56-year-old Edith Schmucker, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Fellow Indiana Republican congressman Jim Banks described her Ms Walorski as his “dear friend and one of the greatest public servants I’ve ever known”.
He added: “Everything Jackie did was to serve others. She had a heart of gold, and I will miss her dearly.”
Ms Walorski and her husband were previously missionaries in Romania, where they established a foundation that provided food and medical supplies to impoverished children.
She worked as a television news reporter in South Bend before her turn to politics.