Coach from Hayling in Horrific Crash
- Fri 29th Oct 2004
SIX people were seriously injured when a coach carrying pensioners was involved in a horrifying crash as they travelled home from a holiday on Hayling Island.
The coach was heading north when it clipped the back of a tractor and careered through the central reservation of the A34 dual-carriageway by the Tot Hill Services, near Newbury.
Four of the group, who were in their 60s and 70s, had to be cut free and suffered serious spinal injuries and were taken by ambulance to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, for treatment.
The pensioners were from a Catholic church party and were returning home to the West Midlands after staying at the Lakeside Classic Resort, in Fishery Lane.
The most seriously injured was the coach driver, a 32-year-old from the West Midlands, who was trapped for more than an hour and was flown by air ambulance to the North Hampshire Hospital, in Basingstoke. The tractor driver was also seriously injured.
The A34 was closed in both directions today at Tothill, following a collision between a single decker coach and an agricultural tractor at about 11am today (Friday, November 26).
The coach was full of elderly people who were returning to Birmingham after a staying at a Hayling Island caravan park with a church group of 450.
The coach and tractor collided in the northbound carriageway, overturning the tractor. The coach travelled through the central reservation and came to rest across two lanes of the southbound carriageway.
Both the tractor driver and coach driver were seriously injured and trapped in their vehicles.
On release, the tractor driver was taken by ambulance to Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester. Thames Valley air ambulance took the coach driver, a 32-year-old man from Walsall, to North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke, where he now has been admitted to a ward.
There were 49 passengers on the coach. Of these, four are believed to have serious injuries. The remaining 45 were ‘walking wounded.’
They were taken to a nearby service area for refreshments and then conveyed for check ups to either Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester; North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke; or West Berkshire Hospital, Newbury.
The A34 was reopened at about 4pm.
People wishing to trace relatives are asked to ring Hampshire Constabulary on 0845 045 45 45, where there is a list of passengers and the hospitals to which they were taken.
A stunned survivor of the Birmingham coach crash told today how she watched in horror as the driver was hurled through the windscreen.
Esther Fortune, who is in her 70s, said: "I saw the driver go through the windscreen and then it seemed like we were going down an embankment."
She added that she was thankful to be alive and said: "God was shining on us." Brother Andrew Ferris, another member of the party from the Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, in Great Barr, said: "It could have been a whole lot worse. I am just glad to be here."
He re-lived the moment the coach collided with a tractor on the A34 in Hampshire and said: "We were travelling along quite happily. I was dozing but then there was this almighty bang and I remember the coach swerving from side to side across the carriageway.
"Then there was just sheer panic. The people on the other side of the carriageway got out of their cars. I was helping people on the coach and suddenly there were strangers on board helping.
"We have not been able to find out what condition the injured are in," he added.
Another passenger, Mary Kingston, of Great Barr, said: "It could have been a lot worse. Everybody was being thrown around the coach and you could see the tractor in the road.
"Then somebody who was driving in the other direction stopped and broke the emergency exit so we could get out."
Five people, including the 32-year unnamed coach driver, who is from the West Midlands, were today seriously ill in hospital after being hurt in the smash, which happened at 11am yesterday on the A34 on the border of Hampshire and Berkshire.
Almost 50 others were treated for minor injuries and shock and most were later released from hospital after treatment.
The pensioners were returning from a 'Turkey and Tinsel' holiday in Hayling Island, near Portsmouth.
Priest in charge at the church is Rev Colin Fortune, who is Esther's step-son, said: "I was very worried and
Five members of a coach party from a West Midlands church are still being treated in hospital in Reading, Berks, after a crash on the A34.
They are thought to have suffered spinal injuries and broken limbs.
On Sunday, a spokeswoman from the Royal Berkshire Hospital said all of those injured are "comfortable and stable".
The remainder of 50 other people hurt when the coach collided with a tractor on Friday have now been released from hospital.
Any accident involving a coach full of people presents a potential for death, but fortunately this was not the case today
Hampshire Police spokeswoman
The coach struck the back of the tractor close to Tot Hill services, south of Newbury.
The tractor flew into the air and landed in a ditch, and the coach careered across the central reservation and ended on the other side of the road.
Emergency services said it was a "miracle" no-one died.
"We are relieved there was no loss of life in such an horrendous collision," a Hampshire Police spokeswoman said.
"Any accident involving a coach full of people presents a potential for death, but fortunately this was not the case today."
The coach, run by Endeavour Coaches in Birmingham, was transporting 49 pensioners from the Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church social club, on Birmingham Road, Great Barr, West Midlands.
The group were travelling back to Great Barr and Sutton Coldfield after a holiday at the Lakeside Caravan Park in Hayling Island, when the collision happened.
The party had been on a pre-Christmas "Turkey and Tinsel" trip to Hampshire since Monday.
Coach operator Endeavour said it had no comment.
Six seriously hurt as coach and tractor collide
Six people were in a serious condition in hospital last night after a coach taking 44 pensioners on a "Turkey and Tinsel" trip collided with a tractor.
Both drivers had to be cut from the wreckage of the crash on the A34 near the Hampshire-Berkshire border. The tractor landed on its roof, while the coach crashed through the central reservation and ended across both lanes of the southbound carriageway.
The road was closed for several hours, with five-mile tailbacks. A Hampshire police spokesman said it was "miraculous" that no cars had been travelling south at the time. "We are relieved there was no loss of life in such an horrendous collision."
Four of the pensioners, who were returning to the West Midlands from Hayling Island, Hants, had serious spinal injuries. The other 40 were described as walking wounded. They were members of a social club belonging to the Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, Great Barr, Birmingham.
There were serious traffic delays west of London today after a crash involving a coach carrying elderly passengers and a tractor near Newbury.
The coach was travelling from the south coast to the West Midlands when it collided with the tractor on the northbound section of the A34 on the Hampshire/Berkshire border at just after 11am. The A34 was closed in both directions, causing tailbacks of several miles in both directions. The nearby A343 was also severely affected.
Traffic in the area was made worse by a van overturning on the eastbound section of the M4 between junctions 11 and 12. Drivers leaving the morotway at junction 13 to avoid this accident found themselves stuck in traffic heading towards the A34.
The driver of the coach, a 32-year-old man from the West Midlands, was seriously injured. He was trapped in the wreckage for more than an hour and was flown by air ambulance to the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke. Four elderly passengers and the tractor driver were also seriously hurt and were taken the Royal Berkshire Hospital by ambulance.
Emergency services said it was a miracle no-one was killed.
The coach was taking 49 pensioners from a Catholic church group back home to the Great Barr and Sutton Coldfield areas of the West Midlands, after a caravan holiday at Hayling Island in Hampshire.
It collided with the tractor, smashed through the central reservation of the dual carriageway and came to a halt on the southbound section.
Forty-five of the passengers, mainly in their 60s and 70s, suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospitals in the area. Firefighters had to cut six injured people free from the wreckage.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue divisional officer Peter Crook said: "There was chaos at the scene initially with heavy traffic and injured. Police commandeered a coach going past to put the minor injured into, to keep them safe before they were taken to Tothill services for a cup of tea and then hospital."
By forum user, Bruce_Bennett
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