Two people were seriously hurt after a car crashed into a Moray woodland.
The black Peugeot 206 careered off the B9103 Sheriffston to Orton road before coming to rest about 50 yards from the edge of the carriageway.
A trail of debris was left in the wake of the car as trees and vegetation were pushed aside before the vehicle came to a halt.
Emergency crews were called to the rural road near Altonside, and took all four people in the car to hospital.
Two men, aged 30 and 19, were seriously injured and were transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after initially
being taken to Dr Gray’s Hospital.
A 23-year-old woman suffered fractures and remained in hospital in Elgin yesterday afternoon.
Another 19-year-old man sustained minor injuries and was released from hospital shortly after the incident.
Tyre tracks on the road showed the car veered sharply to the right across the carriageway before plunging off the road and through the woodland.
Shards of metal and bodywork were embedded through the grass before a police search team arrived to ensure no vital clues were missed.
The road remained closed between Inchberry and Doohill yesterday evening as a specialist operation was under way to retrieve the damaged car from the thick vegetation.
Police are now appealing for witnesses who saw the car before the incident that occurred at 9.10pm on Monday.
A fire spokeswoman said: “We were called to a one-vehicle road traffic collision. We made the scene safe and assisted the police and ambulance crews. No cutting gear was needed.”