Helicopters unable to aid rescue of elderly woman trapped in crashed car

Poor visibility reportedly prevented two helicopters respond to a serious road traffic collision in Co Clare yesterday where an elderly woman was left trapped in the wreckage of her car for over an hour.

Efforts to dispatch the HSE/Air Corps-operated air ambulance and the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter were abandoned and the woman had to be transported, by road, to hospital. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The driver of a van sustained cuts and bruises, but did not require hospitalisation.