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Lost load kills pensioners

4th May 2000, Page 11
4th May 2000
Page 11
Page 11, 4th May 2000 — Lost load kills pensioners
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• An elderly couple died and three people were injured when a timber lorry shed its load in a horrific accident on the A7 near the Scottish border town of Langholm.

The incident happened on Tuesday morning, when a cargo of logs spilled from a Scania artic on the road between Langholm and the Canonbie by-pass, crushing three cars, including a Peugeot 205 driven by retired farmer Graham Wylie, 77. Mr Wylie and his wife Sarah, 79, both suffered fatal injuries.

The drivers and passengers of two other crushed cars escaped with cuts and bruises, while the 28 year-old Galashiels man who was driving the timber truck was treated for shock in the Cumberland Infirmary at Carlisle. Police declined to name the trucker, but confirmed he was working for Selkirk-based Elliot Henderson.

A poke spokeswoman says the affected stretch of road, near a bend and two miles south of Langholm, was closed for almost eight hours as investigators searched for clues.

"Enquiries are continuing, and a report has been sent to the Procurator Fiscal," she adds.

John Dinwoodie, the Dumfries and Galloway councillor who represents Canonbie, where the dead couple lived, has called an emergency meeting of the AT Action Group, which has campaigned for five years to have key sections of the Al upgraded.

He reports: Two or three years ago it was surveyed for improvements, but the Scottish Office pulled the plug. If those improvements had gone ahead this accident might never have happened. We want all the bad bends taken out. The worst part is the stretch between Edinburgh and Carlisle."

Now Dinwoodie plans to ask questions about the safety of timber lorries generally, and will raise the issue in council and with Scottish Roads Minister Sarah Boyack.


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