Driver hurt in embankment crash in Devon

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

One vehicle was left badly damaged on the road

A person was critically injured when a car crashed in Devon and ended up on an embankment close to a railway line.

Two vehicles were involved in the collision on the A377 near Umberleigh, close to King's Nympton railway station, at about 15:00 GMT.

A train had to stop to avoid the vehicle beside the track and the casualty was airlifted to hospital, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

The second vehicle was left badly damaged on the road.

Three further casualties were treated by ambulance crews, the fire service said.

The A377 has been closed between Station Road and the B3226.

Police said the road, which had lots of standing water, was expected to be closed for some time.

Trains between Barnstaple and Exeter St Davids have been disrupted.

After the line was shut for an investigation, trains were later allow to pass the scene at 5mph (8km/h).

[TonyK]

Also in the North Devon Journal site:

Two people airlifted to hospital after train line car crash

Two people were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after a crash which left one car blocking a train line.

Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the A377 at Kings Nympton near Umberleigh around 3pm this afternoon (Sunday, October 28).

The crash involved two cars, a silver Peugeot 308 from Chawleigh and a silver Citreon C3 Picasso from Umberleigh.

On arrival crews found one of the cars had travelled down a steep embankment and was blocking the railway line.  One passenger was trapped in the vehicle and had to be cut out by fire fighters using a saw and hydraulic cutting equipment.

The other car remained on the road. Police could not confirm which of the two cars had blocked the railway line.

Two people were airlifted to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital by the Devon Air Ambulance.  A further two casualties, who suffered minor injuries, were taken to North Devon District Hospital by land ambulance.

The Barnstaple to Exeter railway line was closed immediately after the crash and reopened at 7.14pm.

Police have closed the section of the A377 while officers investigate the cause of the collision.  It is expected to reopen later tonight.

Landing a helicopter there would be no mean feat. The road is narrow, and at the bottom of a steep hill. The fields nearby would probably have been unusably soft. Hats off to Devon Air Ambulance - a service I support, but hope I never have to use.