Fire crews spent over 30 minutes trying to free one of the occupants of an SUV that crashed and overturned on a motorway in Co Galway this evening.
The collision occurred at around 8.30pm in the southbound lanes of the M18 at Coole between Gort and Kiltiernan. Weather conditions were reported to be poor in the area at the time.
The incident resulted in a 13-kilometre stretch of the motorway being closed south from the Kiltiernan interchange.
There were three people in the BMX X5 when it mounted an embankment, crashed back down and overturned. One of the occupants had managed to escape from the vehicle before emergency services arrived however the other two were left trapped inside.
Three ambulances and five units of the fire brigade from Gort and Athenry rushed to the scene along with several Garda vehicles.
It’s understood that one person was freed from the car quite quickly however the second person remained trapped in the wreckage for over 30 minutes.
Fire crews used specialist equipment to cut the wreckage from around the casualty before he could be safely removed and handed into the care of National Ambulance Service paramedics.
All three were removed to hospital for treatment. While one of the three is understood to have sustained serious injuries, they are not believed to be life-threatening.
The motorway was reopened shortly after 10.30pm.
#GALWAY M18 southbound closed. More here: https://t.co/PSzIBsvOzE
— AA Ireland (@aaroadwatch) November 13, 2019