Man seriously hurt in A13 smash (From Thurrock Gazette)

Man seriously hurt in A13 smash

12:50pm Monday 8th October 2012 in News

A MAN has suffered serious injuries and had to be cut free after a four-vehicle pile-up on the A13.

The dual carriageway was brought to a standstill after it was closed in both directions, causing traffic chaos, after the crash.

The accident happened on the Southend-bound track of the carriageway between Stanford-le-Hope and the Five Bells roundabout, Basildon, at about 10.30am on Friday when two lorries, a car and a van collided.

The vehicles involved included a blue Mercedes panel van, two lorries and a Mercedes S320.

Traffic had already been moving slowly on the dual carriageway after an earlier crash at 12.30am on Friday.

In that crash a DAF lorry suffered a mechanical fault and the vehicle ploughed into the central reservation at the B1007 Stanford-le-Hope.

He caused damage to 45m of barrier, leading to one lane of the road to be closed while repairs were carried out.

Hours later, at about 10.30am, in the slow moving traffic caused by the lane closure, a lorry ploughed into the back of a Mercedes car.

The car is believed to have been shunted forward into another lorry and a van. Paramedics, police and four fire crews from Orsett, Corringham and Grays were dispatched to the scene.

The air ambulance also landed in a field next to the carriageway, but was not needed. Firefighters had to cut the roof off the Mercedes to free the 53-year-old man from South Ockendon trapped inside.

He suffered multiple injuries, thought to include a broken leg, and was taken to Queen’s Hospital, Romford. He remains there in what police described as a serious condition.

Two men in the van suffered minor injuries and were taken to Basildon Hospital.

A spokesman for East of England ambulance service said: “We sent the Essex Air Ambulance, two officers, two ambulances and a rapid response car.

“There were three patients in total, two minor injuries classed as ‘walking wounded’ and one was deemed serious who was taken to Queen’s Hospital by land ambulance.”

After the crash, police arrested the lorry driver, a 38-year-old man from Sheerness, Kent, on suspicion of careless driving. He has been bailed until January while police continue to investigate.

Hours after the two crashes, traffic was still in chaos. Motorists, trying to avoid the A13 by using the A127, faced lengthy tailbacks while Basildon town centre and surrounding roads were left gridlocked.

Roads were eventually cleared by the late afternoon on Friday.

Witnesses to the crash can call PC James Lee at the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 101.