A LORRY driver is “lucky to be alive” after colliding with the bottom of the Burghfield Road bridge on the M4 this morning.
The man in his forties was rescued from the cab of his lorry by passing security guards who pulled over after seeing the smash on the eastbound carriageway, between junctions 12 and 11, at around 10.30am.
The alarm was raised and fire crews from Reading and Newbury rushed to the scene where they assisted with first aid and making safe the empty scrap metal lorry after diesel and oil leaks were spotted.
Two lanes of the motorway had to be closed while emergency services worked and to allow an air ambulance to land on the carriageway. The driver had bad facial and hand injuries and was taken to hospital by road.
Paul Mortimer, crew manager at Whitley Wood station, said: “When we were driving down I thought we were going to the find the worst but somehow he was there, out the vehicle and talking. He was very lucky. The lorry appeared to have hit a road sign, gone up on the grass and hit into the bottom of the bridge.”
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