Two Men Injured in Angus Tractor Incident

Two men have been seriously injured after the tractor they were with is understood to have fallen half way down a cliff face at Braehead of Lunan, in Angus on Wednesday afternoon.

A farm worker from Angus was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee with serious back injuries yesterday after his tractor plunged down a cliff side near Montrose.

Ian Murray, 52, was working with 17-year-old David Alston, repairing fences at Buckie Mill Farm at the north end of Lunan Bay in the late afternoon when their agricultural digger started to slip on the grassy slope leading down to the sea.

Mr Murray, who was outside the vehicle, was crushed as it rolled over the upper half of his body.

Mr Alston was able to jump clear seconds before it plummeted over the edge.

The digger rolled several times and came to rest about 60 yards down the cliff at Braehead of Lunan.

Although seriously injured Mr Murray was able to raise the alarm himself shortly after 4pm.

Police, the coastguard and ambulance service and a trauma team from Ninewells were called to the scene.

The Scottish Ambulance Service scrambled its Helimed 5 helicopter, based at Glasgow, and less than half an hour later it landed close to the cliff edge to take Mr Murray to Ninewells.

Its own on-board paramedics assisted him on the flight to the hospital, accompanied by one of the doctors from the trauma team.

Mr Alston was taken to Ninewells by the land ambulance which had remained at the top of the field while his colleague was being rescued.

The ambulance service said last night that two men had been taken to Ninewells – one with serious spinal injuries and the other not so severely hurt.

Last night police cordoned off the field while a crash investigation team examined the site.

Officers were helped by the coastguard who set up a line down to the crashed digger.

A police spokesman said: “Inquiries into the full set of circumstances surrounding the incident are continuing and the Health and Safety Executive have been informed.”

Article created by Editor. (info@safetynetscotland.co.uk)