Update: Child struck by ambulance on London Road in Bath
A boy has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after being struck by an ambulance in Bath.
London Road is still closed on the westbound side at Snow Hill because of the incident.
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The scene in London Road
Police sealed off the road, and were even stopping pedestrians going past the scene of the incident at one point.
The boy - whose age has not been confirmed but is believed to be ten or 11 - has been taken to the Royal United Hospital with a serious head injury.
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Bosses from South Western Ambulance Service - whose vehicle was en route to an emergency at the time - have travelled to Bath to investigate what happened.
The service has been unable to confirm suggestions that the ambulance - thought to be heading for Swainswick - was on the westbound carriageway at the time.
The crew of the ambulance treated the boy at the scene of the incident and then took him immediately onto the RUH.
Police investigating what happened allowed them to leave the scene immediately because of the seriousness of the boy's injuries.
The incident caused widespread traffic disruption.
Buses were forced to take diversions away from the scene.
Elsewhere, the traffic chaos was intensified by a jack-knifed lorry at Limpley Stoke, affecting the A36 around Brassknocker Hill, and an accident on the A46 at Swainswick.
B&NES Council said London Road westbound was likely to be closed for up to three hours. The eastbound side has been reopened.
The incident is close to the Esso petrol station.
B&NES said: "Signage is being provided for the closure by the council. This will result in large volumes of traffic going onto other routes. The council will be monitoring traffic flows and making adjustments to signal timings in order to keep traffic moving as much as possible."
A statement from the ambulance service said: "At 4.01pm this afternoon, an ambulance crew responding to a 999 emergency reported to our clinical hub that they had struck a child near the junction with London Road and Snow Hill in Bath. They reported the child had suffered a significant head injury.
"The patient was placed in the ambulance and taken by the crew straight to Royal United Hospital where he is now being treated. Due to the serious condition of the patient, police gave permission for the ambulance to leave the scene to take him to hospital.
"Clearly our primary concern is for the patient and his family – senior executives from South Western Ambulance Service have travelled to Bath and will offer to meet with the family. We are also ensuring the crew involved are fully supported
"We are also working closely with the police to ensure the circumstance surrounding this serious incident are fully investigated."
34 Comments
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by BV_BV
Friday, March 08 2013, 3:57PM
“Obviously a very sad story and hopefully the lad will make a full recovery. Best wishes to all involved. On a side tack, whether it was this incident or something else (accident or braakdown), there must be a plan to keep traffic moving too. I have heard about people taking over an hour to get along Camden for instance. Surely someone should be responsible at key junctions to ensure that traffic is kept moving so that lnog tailbacks don't occur. If Gay Street had been closed off as planned for 18 months, the tailbacks in Bath would have been much worse. I would like to think that drivers would be able to use common sense and drive up Gay Street on occasions like this, without having to fear a fine and traffic violation.”
by Paulwilts
Friday, March 08 2013, 11:37AM
“Sunny Bath: We'll keep the matter under review. If there are comments which you - or anyone else - feels are beyond the pale, please use the report abuse button. Thanks
Paul Wiltshire, deputy editor.”
by secretpenguin
Friday, March 08 2013, 10:18AM
“Neither are at fault, i know this young boy he is a best friend of my brothers and thinking about it brings tears to my eyes he is such a lovely kid and certainly did not deserve this, no one does. My prayers are with him and his family and all his friends(as two of them were there and saw him get hit right in front of them) at this time as i can see how difficult it is for my brother to take it in. I understand you all have your opinions but please remember to think before you speak.”
by sunny_bath
Friday, March 08 2013, 10:00AM
“Given the idle speculation while a police investigation is taking place, plus the insensitive remarks which people are unable to keep to themselves, should comments really be open?”
by LucyMSN
Friday, March 08 2013, 9:32AM
“It's entirely possible the ambulance crew is without fault here and there would be no lessons to be learned.
We should all wait until the facts come out and not be quick to judge either the boy or the crew..”
by TheOtherJudge
Friday, March 08 2013, 8:17AM
“""So this boy managed, in a fraction of a second, to insert himself in between a "speeding" police car and ambulance?"
Maybe the lad only had eyes and ears for the 'blues and twos' of the police car. One question is whether the ambulance was also using its siren. Obviously there will be lessons to be learnt here in how emergency vehicles are driven in residential areas.”
by MaryD
Friday, March 08 2013, 6:08AM
“So this boy managed, in a fraction of a second, to insert himself in between a "speeding" police car and ambulance?”
by mil8l3i5e9
Thursday, March 07 2013, 10:32PM
“I hope the lad gets well soon. But in the article it said the ambulance was on its way to an incident. I hope whoever the the intended patient is ok”
by TexelTom
Thursday, March 07 2013, 9:47PM
“I was there it was so terrible. The ambulance had a police escort before the accident on in front one behind, please pray for him.”
by mauss
Thursday, March 07 2013, 9:22PM
“averagejoe so just because the ambulance were intending to do good, they're not responsible in causing the accident. makes sense. and let's not pray to god but to the medics to do a damn good job in stitching him up. the kid's from ralph allen, year 7, walking home.”