An 18-year-old man died after being hit by a vehicle on the M5 on November 30 – police say he got out of an ambulance that had pulled over en route to the hospital
A teenager was killed after getting out of an ambulance on the busy M5 motorway. The tragedy happened on November 30 when the ambulance had pulled over on the northbound carriageway between junctions 21 (Weston-super-Mare) and 20 (Clevedon).
Police were alerted by the ambulance service at 11.04pm that a patient had left an ambulance that had pulled over to administer further treatment while en route to the hospital. The 18-year-old patient was subsequently reported to be on the motorway.
An officer on duty tried to guide the young man to safety, aiming to minimise risk to him and other road users. But shortly afterwards, the man was struck by a car travelling southbound.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services personnel, he died at the scene, reports Somerset Live. The deceased man’s family has been informed and is receiving support from a specially trained liaison officer.
Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall expressed her condolences, stating: “Our thoughts are with the man’s family at such a devastating time. We will support them in any way we can.”
She added: “This incident has had a significant effect on our officers and ambulance crews who are understandably incredibly upset by what happened.”
In addition to providing support to the bereaved family, she assured that appropriate welfare arrangements are being made for their staff and those members of the public who were either directly involved or witnessed the harrowing incident.
“A mandatory referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by our Professional Standards Department. It’s already begun an independent investigation into the circumstances, which we will fully cooperate with.”
The M5 was shut for several hours to allow emergency services to carry out investigations at the scene. Commuters faced lengthy diversions until the road was finally reopened before 10am on December 1.
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