Two men remain in hospital after sustaining serious injuries when a car collapsed onto them at Fernleigh Motor Wreckers about 2pm yesterday.
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A 53-year-old man who suffered serious head injuries was airlifted to St George Hospital in Sydney where he remains in a critical condition.
The other male, a 67-year-old, remains in a stable condition at Wagga Base Hospital.
We weren’t sure what we were going to get so we responded with everything we had available at the time.
- Eamonn Purcell, NSW Ambulance District Manager
At a media conference today, Wagga Police Acting Inspector Nigel Turney said the incident occurred when the vehicle fell from a forklift at the site.
“A wreck vehicle was being lifted on a forklift – we’ve since identified that the roof became detached from the body of the car,” Inspector Turney said.
“There was no forklift malfunction, it was just that for some reason the roof became detached.
“It’s fallen to the ground where two men below had been struck by the body of that vehicle that resulted in one of the males receiving head injuries and he’s in a critical condition.”
- AS IT HAPPENED: One critical, one injured in Wagga wreckers car crush
Inspector Turney said the incident would have been traumatic for all involved, including first responders.
“Any sort of situation like that where someone is critically injured and suffering head injuries is always going to be a traumatic experience for anyone,” he said.
“It’s a very difficult time for those families of those two men as well given that we’re approaching Christmas.”
At the scene yesterday, NSW Ambulance district manager Eamonn Purcell said the 53-year-old man was “fighting for his life”.
“When the crews got on scene, they indicated that intensive care was required because of the nature of the injuries,” Mr Purcell said.
“We responded with four ambulance crews as it was quite a big report.
“We weren’t sure what we were going to get so we responded with everything we had available at the time.”
A SafeWork NSW began investigations yesterday and a spokesperson today said they were continuing.
“The incident occurred when a vehicle fell from a forklift onto the men – SafeWork’s enquiries are ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
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