An Easter Ross man has told of his horror at coming across the freak crash which killed his fiancée.
Christina Fraser, 24, from Arabella by Tain, died after the car she was travelling in was crushed by a runaway digger which had fallen off a lorry.
Her husband-to-be Gary Ross, 23, came across the A9 accident on his way to play football. He had been trying to contact Ms Fraser on her mobile phone.
"In my heart I knew right away," he said. "She meant everything to me."
Ms Fraser had been getting a lift home with a colleague from her beautician's job in Inverness when the accident happened during Wednesday night's rush hour.
"She was the biggest part of my life. She kept me going when I was down"
Their car was struck by the digger which had fallen off a low-loader transporter and rolled 200 yards down the steep Tomich brae between Tain and Alness.
Mr Ross revealed that the couple had been childhood sweethearts and after nine years together were planning to marry next year.
Mr Ross said: "I was going to pick her up from the roundabout. She usually arrives at 6.20pm but didn't turn up.
"I couldn't get an answer on her phone. I waited until 6.40pm. I had football in Invergordon so decided to head there and hopefully give her a flash on the way to say I wouldn't be able to pick her up.
"I gave her a text message to say I loved her and would see her at home."
When he came across the crash on the A9 near Invergordon, Mr Ross said: "I saw a red car and the last three digits on the number plate confirmed my worst fears."
'Absolute carnage'
He added: "She was really kind and loving. She would do anything to help anyone.
"She was the biggest part of my life. She kept me going when I was down. She would lift me up."
He said the couple had planned to have children.
"We laughed that we hoped the children would her good looks and my brains," he said. "We were partners for life."
Mr Ross said his fiancée had been planning on giving up her beauticians' job in Inverness because she hated the 35-mile commute from their home.
She had trained as a beauty therapist at college in Glasgow and Inverness before taking a job at Debenhams in the Eastgate Centre in Inverness two years ago.
"Being a beautician was in her blood," Mr Ross said. "She kept herself so beautiful all the time. She loved her job, despite the travelling."
Ms Fraser's colleague Julia Mackay, 45, from Embo, who was driving the car, was airlifted to Raigmore Hospital with serious injuries after becoming trapped in the car.
Her condition is not thought to be life-threatening.
Inspector John Chisholm of Alness Police said: "This was a horrible freak accident. Two women were innocently returning from work when the digger appeared from nowhere and struck their car.
"I doubt if they would have seen it until it was too late. Given that it was rush hour, it was incredible that there were no other casualties."
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