Six people have been killed in two separate road accidents in Northern Ireland.

Four people lost their lives in what is thought to have been a head-on collision on the Newry by-pass in County Down at 0420 BST on Monday.

It is thought three of the dead are Italian tourists. A 22-year-old man was taken to the town's Daisy Hill Hospital where he is described as seriously ill.

It is expected there will be no formal identification of the victims until Tuesday.

Divisional Fire Officer Desmond Fahy said his officers were confronted with an horrific scene, with at least one of the vehicles on fire.

"It would appear to have been a head-on collision," he said.

"One vehicle would appear to have been heading in the Dublin direction and the other vehicle in the Belfast/Newry direction.

"The cars are badly damaged. There was also a fire. So it's a very horrendous scene."

The bodies remained in the vehicles for more than five hours after the accident.

Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.

Vehicles collided

Meanwhile,the two men who died following a road accident in County Antrim have been named.

Both 30-year-old Robert Taylor from Hamlet Way in Ballyclare and Colin Mc Neilly, 21, from Rathkeel Road in Broughshane were killed in the crash which happened on the Collin Road near Glenwherry, between Ballymena and Ballyclare, about 2315 BST on Sunday.

Mr Taylor was a married father of two and the captain of the Royal Ulster Constabulary rugby team while Mr Neilly was single.

Two other cars collided immediately after the initial accident. The drivers of those cars were unhurt but shocked.

The latest fatalities come less than two days after a father and son were killed in an accident in Tandragee, County Armagh.

Kenneth Allister, 34, and his 15-month-old son were killed in an accident on Saturday afternoon.

These latest deaths on Monday bring the number of people killed on Northern Ireland's roads to 118 this year.

There were 97 deaths during the same period last year.