Car ‘was driving three times speed limit’ before hitting campsite tent with baby inside
A car which hit a campsite was driving ‘at least three times the speed limit’ before losing control and hitting a tent, it has been claimed.
Six people were taken to hospital after the incident at Newgale Camping on the Pembrokeshire coast on Saturday night. Dyfed-Powys Police[1] confirmed that a blue Ford Fiesta left the A487 and crashed into the campsite just after 10:30pm.
Two people have been seriously injured in the horror crash. One person was airlifted to hospital in Cardiff by air ambulance, four were taken to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen and one to Swansea’s Morriston Hospital. Three others were injured but not taken to hospital.
A baby was in the tent[2] that was hit, but was not injured, said Mike Harris who owns the campsite. He claimed the car was going “at least three times the speed limit” and it “had to brake and lost control”.
Mike Harris said that the car was speeding (
Sky News)
Mr Harris told Sky News[3]: “I didn’t realise a car could go so fast down the road. It was going at 80 or 90mph in a 30mph (zone). It catapulted from the road because of the speed he was going, over the ditch separating the campsite and main road and landed about 100m from where the driver started braking. It turned three full turns and landed on its wheels.”
Lee Davis, 24, from Ghent who was staying on the campsite said that he and others in his group heard tyres screeching and then a “loud bang” as the car came onto the campsite.
He said: “There was a lot of noise, a lot of screaming and shouting, a lot of people came out of nowhere, you don’t see a lot of people during the day, and then everyone was just there.”
Dyfed-Powys Police[4] are appealing for witnesses as it continues investigating the crash. Officers said the road, that was closed overnight to allow investigations, was reopened before 8am today.
The police force said in a statement: “Dyfed-Powys Police is appealing for witnesses or information following a serious collision, which saw a car crash off the A487 and into a campsite in Pembrokeshire last night (Saturday, 12 August). At shortly after 10.30pm several calls were made to emergency services reporting the one-car collision at Newgale Campsite.
“The blue Ford Fiesta, which contained a number of occupants, is believed to have been travelling from the direction of Roch in the St Davids direction when it lost control and veered off the road. It crashed into the campsite, colliding with a number of people and a tent, injuring nine, including passengers in the car.
The crash happened on Saturday night (
PembsHerald/WALES NEWS SERVICE)
“The injuries sustained by two of them are described as serious. They remain in hospital at this time. The road was closed to allow investigations and reopened at around 7.45am today.
“Officers are appealing for any information regarding the vehicle, a blue Ford Fiesta, and its occupants. We are especially interested in any dash-cam footage or doorbell footage which may have captured the vehicle being driven from Roch to the scene of the collision at Newgale.”
References
- ^ Dyfed-Powys Police (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ A baby was in the tent (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Sky News (news.sky.com)
- ^ Dyfed-Powys Police (www.mirror.co.uk)