Van driver saves mother and boy from burning car

A quick-thinking van driver helped to rescue a mother and child from a burning car following a two-vehicle collision in Co Tipperary yesterday.

The incident occurred at about 2.50pm at Bushfield, between Birdhill and Nenagh on the R445, the old N7 Limerick to Dublin road.

The two cars collided head-on with one spinning around on the road before catching fire.

A passing van driver helped those trapped in the burning car. Two gardaí, who are understood to have just come off duty, also arrived on the scene. Another motorist ran to a local house in search of a fire extinguisher.

Three units of the fire brigade from Nenagh and Newport along with ambulances from Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary rushed to the scene.

Fire crews and medics found the car ablaze but the occupants, including an 18-month-old boy, had been pulled to safety by the van driver.

The child, who was the most seriously injured, was first to be removed from the scene. His mother travelled in the ambulance with him and was said to have only suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the second car, a woman in her 50s, was also hurt. She is understood to have suffered facial and neck injuries.

All three were taken to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick.

The van driver, who did not want to be named said: “It just happened in front of me. I stopped and jumped out and saw the car was smoking. I helped them out of the car but it just went up in flames. I am still shaking.”