A woman has been badly hurt in an industrial accident in Slaithwaite.
The woman, 64, was unloading a skip from the back of a lorry in a skip hire yard owned by Colne Valley Skip Hire when the accident happened at 3.15pm today.
The woman ended up crushed between a skip and one of the lorry’s wheels and was partially slumped to the ground when she was discovered by workmates at the site beneath the railway arches off Clay Lane.
Ambulances, fire engines and the police were sent to the scene.
Watch Commander Matthew Green from Slaithwaite fire station said: “She was badly pinned between the skip and the wheel and we needed to use spreading gear and hydraulic rams to free her. We worked alongside paramedics who were constantly assessing her condition and giving her pain relief. The rescue operation took around 30 minutes and she was in a lot of pain.”
The injured woman was conscious throughout her ordeal and has suffered serious chest injuries.
Slaithwaite firefighters were joined at the scene by colleagues from Huddersfield and a specialist technical rescue appliance from Cleckheaton.
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance landed nearby and then flew her direct to Leeds General Infirmary.
The accident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive.
