Couple killed in stolen car crash

Two men fled the scene after the crash

A nurse on her way to a New Year's Eve hospital shift was killed with her husband in a hit-and-run accident involving a stolen car in Birmingham.

Police are hunting two men who got out of a Mercedes car involved in the collision in Hockley and ran off.

They have named the victims as Pearl Whyne, 59, and her husband Keith, 71. They had nine children.

They were driving to the City Hospital in Birmingham, where Mrs Whyne, a nurse for 30 years, was due to be on duty.

Sgt Paul Bennett, who is investigating the incident, told BBC News the couple lived in Bordesley Green in Birmingham.

'Callous and cruel'

He said Mr Whyne was a retired security guard for Royal Mail at the former Mailbox sorting office.

Sgt Bennett said Mr Whyne was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mrs Whyne's colleagues at the City Hospital were unable to save her life when she was taken there by ambulance, he said.

The officer said the way the two men in the stolen Mercedes behaved was "callous and cruel."

He said they removed articles from the Mercedes after the crash and were picked up by another car soon afterwards.

The men are described as black or Asian and in their 20s.

He said one had a goatee beard and the other was shaven-headed.

"I would appeal to them to give themselves up," he said.

"The car is undergoing forensic examination and we will get the men who did this."

He said the vehicle was stolen from a local supermarket car park about half an hour before the fatal crash.