By Michael Newhouse
A MALE driver was rushed to hospital after being critically injured last week when the four-wheel drive he was driving rolled several times, coming to rest on the side of the Western Ring Rd during peak hour traffic.
Six ambulances, at least three police cars and several fire crews rushed to the scene of the crash shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday, 31 January, to find a man and a woman trapped in the vehicle near the intersection of the Western Ring Rd and Keilor Park Drive, Keilor East.
The woman was freed but a Metropolitan Fire Brigade heavy rescue unit was called in to free the driver, who was trapped underneath the upturned vehicle. The woman and two male passengers were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The driver was taken to the Alfred Hospital in a critical condition.
MFB Station Officer Geoff Audsley told Star the accident didn’t cause any disruption to peak-hour traffic, since the vehicle came to rest on the side of the road, but said it was lucky more people were not hurt.
He said he believed the vehicle rolled up to five times before coming to rest on the side of the Ring Rd, with baggage and other debris from the vehicle strewn across the crash site.
“It’s amazing there weren’t any other crashes,” Mr Audsley said.
A spokesman for the Alfred Hospital said he believed the injured man had since been discharged from hospital.
A police media spokesperson said there was no record of any fatalities from the crash as this issue went to print.
