Two young children have been found with stab wounds at a house in Moergestel in Noord-Brabant several hours after their father caused a major accident by driving the wrong way up the A58 provincial highway on Saturday evening.

The children, both under the age of 10, were taken to hospital and police have not said how serious their injuries are.

Their father was also hospitalised with serious injuries after driving into oncoming traffic some three hours earlier.  Eyewitnesses told the Telegraaf he was driving a small white car without headlights and drove directly at them.

The Telegraaf describes the family as “foreign” and says they moved to the village from Eindhoven just three weeks ago. The whereabouts of the children’s mother are unclear but, the paper said, she may be abroad.

Seven cars were involved in the crash, close to Tilburg, and four drivers and other occupants were treated for minor injuries. “We had an angel sitting on our shoulders,” one of two women in the car hit head-on by the white car told regional broadcaster Omroep Brabant.

Police have taken blood samples from the man to check for drink and drugs. A spokesman told reporters on Saturday evening that the day’s events had left “many questions and very few answers”.