{"id":1182,"date":"2014-02-04T14:21:08","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T14:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2014-02-04T14:21:08","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T14:21:08","slug":"coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach crash closes motorway for hours"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" title=\"M4 coach crash - live from the scene\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"about:blank\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WQWVXQJW3Xw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe title=\"M4 coach crash - live from the scene\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WQWVXQJW3Xw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><br \/>\n<strong>A coach crash on the M4 on Tuesday (February 4) morning left commuters facing tailbacks of up to six miles.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe coach, carrying 57 Argentinian students and teachers, crashed along with a lorry and a car just before 9.30am.<br \/>\nBy 12.30pm there were queues stretching to the Severn bridges and Cardiff Gate services at junction 30.<br \/>\nOne passenger and the driver of the coach were seriously injured when it crashed into the barrier of an off-slip ramp between junctions 25 and 26 eastbound.<br \/>\nThe motorway was closed in both directions between junctions 24 and 28 to allow two air ambulances to land and take the driver to Morriston Hospital in Swansea.<br \/>\nThe passenger was taken to University Hospital of Wales, the Heath Cardiff and another seriously-injured patient was admitted to Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport.<br \/>\nDespite having serious injuries none of the three are in a life-threatening condition.<br \/>\nChristina Rankin-Moore of Wales Air Ambulance said their Swansea-based helicopter was mobilised at 9.37am and arrived at the scene at 10am.<br \/>\n\u201cThe Welsh Air Ambulance paramedics assisted emergency services on scene before airlifting an adult male to Morriston Hospital,\u201d she said.<br \/>\nEight other patients, including students from the coach, were treated at Royal Gwent Hospital for minor injuries.<br \/>\nThe fire service used specialist cutting equipment to free the driver and was still working to release trapped passengers two hours after the crash.<br \/>\nThe Welsh Ambulance Service sent two rapid response vehicles, four emergency ambulances and three ambulance officers to the scene as well as the two helicopters.<br \/>\nNewport City Council set up a rest centre for the passengers who were not injured where they are currently being cared for.<br \/>\nEyewitnesses reported seeing teenage passengers crying and hugging each other near the scene of the crash.<br \/>\nThe coach had Caledonian Coaches livery but was being operated by Scottish-<br \/>\nbased Gibson Coaches.<br \/>\nTwo lanes westbound had reopened by 1pm but there were still long delays.<br \/>\nA number of drivers stuck in the traffic jams tweeted their frustration.<br \/>\nGerwyn Lewis said: \u201cApproaching the third mile in traffic having driven less than a mile.\u201d<br \/>\nDriver Laura Tolley warned others to avoid the area.<br \/>\n\u201cM4 towards Newport is horrific, I would turn around now if your [sic] heading that way! So glad I was on the other side!\u201d she tweeted.<br \/>\nChief Insp Paul Evans of Gwent Police said closing the motorway was the only option.<br \/>\nHe said: \u201cWe appreciate the closure is causing problems for motorists however the decision to do so is never taken lightly.<br \/>\n\u201cWe need to ensure we investigate every such collision thoroughly gathering all evidence possible and also ensuring the safety of everyone involved as well as other motorists who will be using this road once its reopened.<br \/>\n\u201cWe are grateful for the understanding and patience shown by drivers and their passengers today.\u201d<br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1200\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1200\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/m42.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1200\" alt=\"(Photo: Wales Air Ambulance) \" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/m42-1024x575.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1200\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1200\" alt=\"(Photo: Wales Air Ambulance) \" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/m42-1024x575.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> <strong>(Photo: Wales Air Ambulance)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nTen other passengers, eight students and two adults, were treated at Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport for minor injuries.<br \/>\nThe fire service used specialist cutting equipment to free the driver and was still working to release trapped passengers two hours after the crash.<br \/>\nNewport City Council set up a rest centre for the passengers who were not injured where they are currently being cared for.<br \/>\nEyewitnesses reported seeing teenage passengers crying and hugging each other near the scene of the crash.<br \/>\nTwo lanes westbound had reopened by 1pm but there were still long delays.<br \/>\nA number of drivers stuck in the traffic jams tweeted their frustration.<br \/>\nGerwyn Lewis said: \u201cApproaching the third mile in traffic having driven less than a mile.\u201d<br \/>\nDriver Laura Tolley warned others to avoid the area.<br \/>\n\u201cM4 towards Newport is horrific, I would turn around now if your heading that way! So glad I was on the other side!\u201d she tweeted.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\"><p>M4 towards Newport is horrific I would turn around now if your heading that way! ! So glad I was the other side!<br \/>\n\u2014 Laura Tolley (@lautolley) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lautolley\/statuses\/430699885516820480\">February 4, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Chief Insp Paul Evans of Gwent Police said closing the motorway was the only option.<br \/>\nHe said: \u201cWe appreciate the closure is causing problems for motorists however the decision to do so is never taken lightly.<br \/>\n\u201cWe need to ensure we investigate every such collision thoroughly gathering all evidence possible and also ensuring the safety of everyone involved as well as other motorists who will be using this road once it is reopened.<br \/>\n\u201cWe are grateful for the understanding and patience shown by drivers and their passengers today.\u201d<br \/>\nCaledonian Travel were unavailable for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A coach crash on the M4 on Tuesday (February 4) morning left commuters facing tailbacks of up to six miles. The coach, carrying 57 Argentinian students and teachers, crashed along with a lorry and a car just before 9.30am. By 12.30pm there were queues stretching to the Severn bridges and Cardiff Gate services at junction 30. One passenger and the driver of the coach were seriously injured when it crashed into the barrier of an off-slip ramp between junctions 25 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":1198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[1291,1792,1793,1794,1795,1579,50,51,339],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-cardiff-2","tag-coach","tag-coach-crash","tag-m4","tag-motorway","tag-newport","tag-transport","tag-travel","tag-wales"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Coach crash closes motorway for hours - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coach crash closes motorway for hours - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A coach crash on the M4 on Tuesday (February 4) morning left commuters facing tailbacks of up to six miles. The coach, carrying 57 Argentinian students and teachers, crashed along with a lorry and a car just before 9.30am. By 12.30pm there were queues stretching to the Severn bridges and Cardiff Gate services at junction 30. One passenger and the driver of the coach were seriously injured when it crashed into the barrier of an off-slip ramp between junctions 25 [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-04T14:21:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/\",\"name\":\"Coach crash closes motorway for hours - The Cardiffian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-04T14:21:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/04\/coach-crash-closes-motorway-for-hours\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Coach crash closes motorway for hours\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\",\"name\":\"The Cardiffian\",\"description\":\"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\",\"name\":\"cathyduncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d4d0895f6e1f7ccb86d04236a870a18b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cathyduncan\"},\"description\":\"Lecturer, Cardiff University News Journalism MA. 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