Truck & Bus Forum - Coach crash

Teenagers in lucky escape in A9 crash
Coach driver badly injured
Published: 08/05/2010

A BUS driver was airlifted to hospital last night with serious injuries after his coach carrying more than 30 teenagers went off a Highland road and down an embankment.

A 13-year-old boy and a female passenger were also taken to hospital after the accident on the Helmsdale to Dunbeath stretch of the A9 Inverness to Wick road, just north of the Berriedale Braes, at around 7.40pm.

Emergency services said it was “very fortunate” the incident was not more serious.

Northern Constabulary officers closed the road and paramedics from the Scottish Ambulance Service were also called to the scene.

They requested an air ambulance to take the coach driver to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. His injuries were not thought to be life-threatening. A female and a 13-year-old boy were also taken to Caithness General Hospital with minor injuries.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We received a report of a coach that had gone down an embankment at the Berriedale Braes between Helmsdale and Wick.

“One male was taken to Raigmore Hospital by air ambulance because of the seriousness of his injury.”

A Northern Constabulary spokesman said officers closed the road in both directions while emergency services were at the scene.

The spokesman added 37 people were on board the coach, and an investigation into the cause of the accident had been launched.

Firefighters from the Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service were also called to the scene.

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