NEWS UPDATE – 2019 A BANGING START IN LLANELLI, AS AMBULANCE STRIKES CARS TO AVOID ANIMAL

NEWS UPDATE

2019 A BANGING START AS AMBULANCE STRIKES CARS TO AVOID ANIMAL

The start of 2019 wasn’t quite what one Llanelli street expected as it went with a bang. At just gone 6am on New Years Day (January 1) in Marble Hall Road several houses were woken up by a rather loud smash. This was as a result of a Welsh Ambulance swerving into five parked vehicles in a bid to avoid an animal crossing the road. The damage financially, is believed to have been in the region of tens of thousands of pounds.

Thankfully nobody was injured during the incident but at least one vehicle is reported as being a write-off.  The  ambulance, a Mercesdes Benz Sprinter (2013 plate) made contact on Tuesday morning with a Volkswagen Golf, Kia Picanto, Dacia Sandero, Vauxhall  Zafira and a Lexus in what was said to have been an unfortunate incident. Thankfully no properties sustained damage and nobody was injured.

The owner of the Dacia Sandero Melanie Greaney and her husband Shaun spoke to the West Wales Chronicle.

Shaun said:

“We were in bed after celebrating New Years Eve and had only been asleep for a few hours. All of a sudden we were woken up, there was a crashing sound followed by a huge bang. I knew there had been a crash and I ran out of the house, this was at 6.10am in the morning. I could see four cars had been concertinaed  into each other and further down the road I could see another car had been slammed into. The front of an ambulance was visible and was totally crushed. I believe it’s a write- off.

“The ambulance driver looked shaken and I asked if he was alright, he said he was. I asked if he’d skidded on black ice, he told me he’d had to swerve to avoid an animal crossing. The driver had been coming back to base from a call in Llandovery apparently.

“Base is only around the corner from us. I would think an ambulance with a 2013 plate would run into tens of thousands of pounds to replace, let alone the damage to all of the cars, it’s a costly incident all round. There was a paramedic in the ambulance also. We’ve had the shock of our lives, this is normally such a quiet street. We were all out to see what had happened, it was quite a sight.”

Melanie continued:

“It is hell of a start to the New Year with six vehicles damaged badly, you just don’t expect this. I’m so glad that nobody was hurt though, including the driver, it could have been so much worse. I’ve had my car on finance and didn’t have long to go to pay it off. I’ll have to start again now. Initially you couldn’t see the range of the damage, obviously you can now.

“Another ambulance attended half an hour later to check if the driver and passenger needed medical attention, they both said they were fine. Equipment was transported into another ambulance and the damaged one was towed away by a low loader (recovery).  Another paramedic car attended also.  I feel so sorry for the driver, he was really cut-up about it all. These things happen, it can’t be helped, what’s done is done. Everyone is insured but lets just not the best start of a brand new year for everyone involved.”

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said:

“We can confirm that one of our vehicles was involved in a road traffic collision with a number of parked cars, whilst taking evasive action when an animal ran out in front of the vehicle, on Marble Hall Road, Llanelli on Tuesday (January 1, 2019) at approximately 6am and that no one was injured.”