The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Police officers badly injured in M90 crash
Squad car was hunting for drink-driver when it crashed off the road
The M90 south of Kinross was closed for much of yesterday morning as police investigated a devastating crash involving one of their patrol cars.
A pair of officers had been responding to a report of a drink-driver when their car left the road at the Kelty junction on Sunday night.
The driver was rushed to Western General Hospital in Edinburgh and has neurological injuries.
The other officer was taken to Ninewells in Dundee with back injuries.
A second crash at the site involved a taxi hitting a wheel from the stricken police car, according to a witness. It was carrying a figure skating judge from Edinburgh to Dundee. She was said to be shaken but otherwise unhurt.
The witness described how “there was this horrible, eerie silence” around the accident site as he and others used their mobile phones to warn other motorists.
Two police officers trying to catch a drink-driver were seriously injured in a motorway crash.
The officer who was driving the marked BMW patrol car on Sunday evening was cut free from the vehicle by fire crews and is being treated at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh for what was described as “neurological injuries”.
His passenger was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee with back injuries.
The police car left the M90 near Kelty and came to rest on a grass verge at around 9.40pm.
It is understood two other vehicles were caught up in the incident when they hit a wheel which had come off the police car.
One was said to be a taxi taking a figure skating judge from Edinburgh Airport to Dundee, where she is an official at a qualifier for the British Figure Skating Championships.
The qualifier is taking place at Dundee Ice Arena until Friday.
Aniela Hebel-Szmak, who was a judge at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, was said to have been left shaken, but uninjured.
A witness who was among the first at the scene said: “The taxi hit a wheel from the police car and all the airbags went off.
“She was pretty shaken up.”
The source, who asked to remain anonymous, described the scene as “terrifying”, adding: “It was dark and the road was wet. There was this horrible eerie silence.”
He said he and others who had stopped to help used the lights on their mobile phones to alert passing motorists to what had happened and encourage them to slow down.
“These were two lads who were doing their jobs and were out catching someone who had been completely irresponsible when this happened.”
Chief Superintendent Stewart Carle, who is head of road policing in Scotland, took to Twitter to thank members of the public who had assisted at the scene.
“These were two lads who were doing their jobs and were out catching someone...
He said: “Grateful to motorists who assisted rescue and 999 responders who gave treatment. Thoughts with families of both my officers.”
Chief Inspector Mark Patterson, from the road policing unit, said: “The officers in the patrol car were responding to the report of a drink-driver on the motorway when the collision happened.
“Our thoughts are with both officers and their families at this time.
“I would appeal to anyone who may have witnessed this collision to call Police Scotland on the 101 number quoting the incident reference number 3798 of October 6.”
The officer cut free from the patrol car was initially brought to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but later transferred to the Western General.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We received a call at 9.55pm to attend a road traffic collision on the M90 near Kelty.
“Two ambulances, our special operations response team and the trauma team were sent to the scene and one patient was taken to Ninewells hospital, with a second patient taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.”
A section of the northbound carriageway of the motorway was closed for nearly 12 hours following the incident, reopening yesterday morning.