Emergency vehicle jumping red light hits car seriously injuring two women

An ambulance on the way to a road traffic accident was yesterday involved in a horrific accident at the junction of Manacor and Manuel Azaña in Palma after a jumping a red light and colliding with a car. Two women, aged 48 and 43, who were in the car, suffered serious injuries as their vehicle was reduced to a mass of mangled steel. One of the women was trapped inside the vehicle for 45 minutes before firefighters managed to cut her free as up to 200 onlookers gathered to witness the scene. A doctor and nurse who were travelling inside the ambulance suffered minor injuries, as did the driver.

Although the siren and lights on the ambulance were turned on, it was travelling at a high speed when it crossed the lights and collided with the Volkswagen Polo in which the women were travelling. The ambulance hit the car at a high velocity on the passenger side, dragging it several meters before coming to a stop.

Officers from the Policia Local were on the scene immediately and they requested the presence of several ambulances. The woman who was travelling as a passenger in the car received the worst injuries as she took the full impact of the collision and was subsequently trapped.

The woman had serious injuries and was rushed to hospital as soon as she was cut free. The driver of car, for her part, suffered multiple traumas and was taken by ambulance to a specialist clinic in the city. In addition, the three occupants of the ambulance involved in the accident, a driver, a doctor and a nurse, suffered minor injuries and also required medical attention. Local police closed a stretch of Manacor street for an hour following the accident. An official report is being prepared to look into the cause of the incident.

In addition an officer with the Policia Nacional was injured when he fell off his motorbike at the scene of the accident, reportedly suffering a broken arm.