Teenager cut from car wreck in North

A teenager was today cut from the wreckage of a car that crashed into a fuel tanker trailer in the North.

He was rushed to hospital following the collision in Co Down, where he was in an ill but stable condition with suspected head injuries.

Four young men were in the car that lost control on a bend of the Old Road near Poyntzpass at around 4am and slid underneath the trailer.

His friends managed to get out, but fire and ambulance crews were called to free the front-seat passenger.

One man was arrested and later released on police bail.

Michael McAteer, the Fire Service's Assistant Divisional Commander in Newry, told how the car was crushed under the tanker's chassis.

Although there was no threat of an explosion, he said, "the roof was partially compressed and access was very difficult, only through the driver's door.

"It was a pretty severe impact. These lads had a lucky escape.

"There could have been four people lying in the morgue this morning."