A woman is dead and three people are in hospital – including two children – after a head-on collision east of Peterborough.

Ontario Provincial Police said the collision happened at around 2:30 p.m. on Highway 7 near Blezard Line.

One of the drivers – a 51-year-old woman from the Havelock area – was declared dead at the scene, police said.

The driver of the second vehicle was taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Two children from the same vehicle – a two-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl – were airlifted to a trauma centre in Toronto with serious injuries.

The cause of the collision is not yet clear, police said. OPP have shut down local roads as they investigate the fatal collision.