Miracle escape for family after lorry jack-knifes on to taxi
Published: October 26, 2006
A MOTHER and her two children made a miracle escape from a crushed taxi after a skip lorry jack-knifed and landed on top of the vehicle.
The 44- year- old female taxi driver had to be cut from the flattened wreckage of the cab after the accident on Abbeyhill Crescent yesterday in a four- hour operation to free her.
The mother and her twins, aged nine, managed to crawl free on to the street and were taken away by paramedics in an ambulance. The lorry, which is believed to belong to Eden Waste Recycling, turned over as the skips it was carrying hit the bridge and careered on to its side.
The skips smashed on to the taxi as it waited to turn right at the junction. Firefighters this morning described the female taxi driver who was trapped by the steering wheel of her cab as “extremely brave”. Fire crews from McDonald Road, Marionville and Newcraighall raced to the acci-dent scene after receiving the emergency call at 3.44pm.
The crews used hydraulic cut-ting gear to cut through the rear of the cab to remove the taxi driver who was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, but was said to only have minor injuries. Police officers shut off Abbeyhill Crescent to traffic for more than nine hours and stopped passersby from walking under the bridge. Vicky O’Toole, 36, a secretary from Newcraighall, was collecting her children from school when she came across the accident. She said: “I spoke with one of the mechanics from the Car Tuning Clinic across the road. He said he saw a woman and her two children crawl out from the wreck-age. They were pretty upset, understandably. But the driver was stuck inside.” A mechanic from the Car Tuning Clinic in Abbeyhill said: “ I just heard a bang. It was like lighting going off. I didn’t know what it was and only went out to look a few minutes later. “You could see one of the car headlights still shining out under the skip, but it seemed to be squashed flat.”
Two officers from the force’s Collision Investigation Unit arrived at the scene less than an hour after it happened. A fire brigade spokesman said: “ The driver was trapped by the steering wheel within the cab. The whole cab was totally encased in metal. Watch commander David Carey stayed with her, keeping her calm for four hours and said she was extremely brave in quite harrowing conditions. “They removed her via the back windscreen, cutting from that angle to get her out.
Paramedics administered pain relief. It was very tough, long work.” A police spokeswoman appealed for witnesses to come forward. She said: “ A skip lorry which was travelling south, struck the under-side of the rail bridge causing the lorry to topple on to its side. Passengers in the taxi, a woman and her two nine- year- old chil-dren were removed from the vehicle with the assistance of passers-by. The woman was treated for minor injuries at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and later released. Her children were unhurt.” “ Anyone with information about the accident should contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3418.” The rail bridge was closed to trains from 3.45pm until just before 4.30pm. East coast main line trains were delayed following the accident, and one local service was cancelled.
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