A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl has been airlifted to hospital after a crash that left a car impaled on metal railings.

The accident, involving a Mercedes saloon and a Ford Transit Van, happened at 8.30am today as the 36-year-old mum was doing the school run with her three children in the car, including her baby boy.

It is understood that the van was pulling out of a side street as the car was travelling along St Helens Road when they smashed into each other at the junction with Lister Street, opposite Smethurst Lane.

A cafe owner rushed to pull the six-month old baby, who was not hurt, from the passenger seat of the Mercedes while the baby's mother, also uninjured, turned her attentions to her two daughters in the back seat, who were trapped by the railings.

The four-year-old girl suffered a suspected broken leg and was airlifted to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, while her older sister, thought to be aged seven, also needed hospital treatment and was taken by ambulance.

Natalie Entwhistle, a nearby resident, rushed to the aid of the girls and tried to calm the youngest girl, who was said to be screaming in anguish. 

Firefighters had to remove the roof of the Mercedes to free the children and delicately cut through the twisted railings.

St Helens Road was closed between the accident scene and Hulton Lane while emergency services dealt with the crash.

Julie Byrom, who owns Julie's Breakfast Bar, ran out of her cafe when she heard a bang.

She said: "I just ran to the car and there was a baby in the front seat.

"I got him out and the fire service had to cut the other two free.

"I put him on the table in the cafe and just stayed with him, and made sure he was okay.

"As long as they are all okay that is the main thing."

Bolton central fire station watch manager Karsten Boyle said: "We got there and there was a car impaled on these railings.

"The railings were inside the rear of the vehicle and were trapping these two girls who were sitting there.

"It was an intricate extrication done very quickly because we needed to be careful with each cut that the railings did not twist and further injure the children.

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Emergency services at the scene of the crash. Picture: Dineshkumar Chevli 

"Between the paramedics and the hazardous area response team, they stabilised the children while we completed the extrication.

"Considering the fact the railings came into the vehicle, the injuries sustained could have been a lot worse."

Mrs Entwhistle said: "I just talked to the girls through a little gap in the door and tried to keep them calm.

"So many emergency service vehicles came but it took them a few minutes.

"They were really brave and crying at first.

"I was just talking to the littlest one about normal things. I asked her what she liked to play with, just trying to take her mind off it.

"She kept saying 'I'm bleeding' and that her legs hurt.

 

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These two pictures of the crash scene were taken by Rashid Mogradia

"I asked 'can you breathe?', and she said 'not easily'.

"It was terrible."

The driver of the van was not hurt.

A spokesman for the North West Ambulance Service said the mother and baby were taken to hospital in a second ambulance.

Two fire crews from Bolton central were accompanied by a technical response unit from Leigh. 

The road fully reopened at 12.06pm, having been shut for more than three hours, after the wreckage of the Mercedes was removed, a police spokesman said. 

An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, police said, and no arrests have been made.

Watch a CCTV video of the crash above.

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The van that was involved in the crash

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The car being removed from the scene

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