Woman dies as coal lorry ploughs into wall of flat

Rachel Loxton

Reporter

Friday 15 February 2013

The peace of a coastal village was shattered when a lorry ploughed into a flat, killing a woman.

SHOCK: The lorry rammed through the gable end leaving the inside of the flats exposed. Picture: Colin Templeton

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RACHEL LOXTON

The 55-year-old victim was believed to be in the living room of her ground floor flat in Fairlie, North Ayrshire, when the coal lorry veered off the main A78 that runs through the community, ripping off part of the gable end.

Rescuers who arrived on the scene did not initially know whether anyone was inside. They were greeted by a scene of devastation, with an upstairs bathroom ripped open leaving the bathtub balanced precariously on the driver's cab of the vehicle.Inside, the woman, who has not been named, lay trapped for more than three hours as specially trained rescue teams battled to save her. However, she died at the scene.Her 60-year-old husband sustained minor injuries in the crash and was airlifted to Inverclyde General Hospital in Greenock.The 54-year-old lorry driver, who has also not been named, was treated in hospital for minor injuries.Police said one other man, who was in the building at the time, escaped unhurt.The inside of the property became exposed after the impact of the crash reduced the wall to rubble. Emergency teams were communicating with the woman while the rescue attempt was taking place.Residents of the village, which has a population of around 1600 and lies opposite Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde, spoke of their shock at the crash.Callum Calvey, 26, lives above the couple in the second floor flat. He said: "I was really worried about them, especially when I heard the woman was trapped. I think she was trapped under the lorry the whole time."They are a really nice couple. I'm taken aback by everything."Mr Calvey, a tree surgeon, was working in Kilbirnie when the lorry struck the property.He said: "I just found out about it when my friend text me a picture of my bath hanging outside the building. I have no idea what I'm going to do."Fairlie resident Anna Conway, 41, said: "It was horrific. The whole community will be absolutely shocked. This is a disaster for us."Her son Lewis, 14, was an eyewitness to the crash.He said: "I was coming back on the bus after being at Largs library and saw the lorry just crash into the side of the house. It was unbelievable."Emergency services cordoned off the area. The A78 was closed in both directions between the north of Fairlie and Hunterston and diversions were put in place.Steve Graham, 56, chairman of Fairlie Community Council, said it was a "killer road".He said: "We, as a community council, have been campaigning for years to stop the amount of traffic and heavy vehicles coming through the village to get to the Hunterston Coal Terminal."The road can't take it and it was just a matter of time before something like this happened on this killer road."It's far too narrow for these sorts of lorries and the heavy flow of traffic.It's sad to say this but I think it was inevitable that something like this would eventually happen."A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said the ground floor of the building was seriously damaged and deemed structurally unsound.A spokesman for North Ayrshire Council said: "We have sent a structural engineer to assess the condition of the building and are currently assisting the emergency services to ensure that the site is made safe."

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Woman dies as coal lorry ploughs into wall of flat

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