Huge snarl-up after van overturns on M54
Monday 16th August 2010, 10:10AM BST.
Motorists were caught in a huge snarl-up after a security van overturned on the M54, near Telford, trapping the driver and his passenger inside.
Both lanes of the carriageway between junction 5 at Telford town centre and junction 4 at Shifnal were shut for more than two hours while emergency services dealt with the incident.
Fifteen firefighters were called to the scene at about 9.50am on Saturday and police sealed off the motorway at junction 5 heading towards Wolverhampton.
Watch manager Tean Treharne, of Telford Central Fire Station, said no other vehicles were involved.
She said when the Mercedes Sprinter van overturned it went into shutdown mode and all the doors were automatically locked.
The driver and his passenger, who was complaining of chest pains, were stuck inside but firefighters used a mobile phone to contact them.
Miss Treharne said: “The safety mode the van went into caused us a bit of a problem.
“The van had rolled over and the override system was on the side the vehicle was resting on. We managed to get one firefighter into the van through an escape hatch and a company engineer who had arrived 10 minutes after the crash also climbed inside.
“He managed to short the fuses on the override and so unlock the doors.”
She said the driver’s colleague was quite poorly, suffering chest pains, and the paramedic “crawled through into the cab to tend to him”. The injured man was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, for treatment, although his injuries were not thought to be life threatening.
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