The man who caused a major crash by driving the wrong way on the A58 near Tilburg at the weekend, and whose children were later found at home with stab wounds, has been arrested in connection with the attacks.

The 49-year-old was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the crash, and police found the children when they went to inform his family about what had happened.

The children, a boy and a girl under the age of 10, were taken to hospital and are both out of danger, police said on Monday.

The children’s mother was in Germany and has since returned to the Netherlands.

The family, described as “foreign” by the Telegraaf, had only been living in the village of Moergestel for a few weeks.

Seven cars were involved in the crash 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.