Two men seriously injured in Murkle crash

A 21-year-old man is said to be fighting for his life after being in a two-car collision in west Caithness.

Four people were involved in the crash which took place on the A836 Thurso to Castletown road at Murkle on Monday – two people suffered severe injuries.

The accident took place at 4.45pm when a Honda Civic a driver was in a collision with a Volkswagen Polo occupied by three people.

The man who was a front-seat passenger in the Polo suffered a major head injury and was transported by ambulance to Caithness General Hospital in Wick. An update on his condition was not available as the Caithness Courier went to press.

A 37-year-old man from the Wick area, who was a back-seat passenger in the Golf, is said to have broken all of his ribs on the right side of his body as well as sustaining a head injury causing bleeding to the brain.

The severity of the man’s injuries resulted in him being transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on Monday night to receive specialist treatment. He is said to be in a stable condition.

The driver of the vehicle suffered only slight concussion and stayed in Caithness General Hospital overnight before being released on Tuesday.

The driver of the Honda Civic was unharmed.

Sergeant Brian Hamilton said that the road policing unit from Dingwall was called to investigate the cause of the crash and the road was closed for around seven hours with diversions being put in place by the Highland Council.

He said that enquiries are still continuing into how the incident occurred.

“We are still unaware of the cause behind the crash, but the driver of the Honda Civic was breathalysed and no alcohol was found in his system,” he said.

“Due to the severity of the injuries of two of the passengers, we are still at the early stages of our enquiries into finding out what happened.

“The roads policing unit officers are taking their time with the investigation and nobody has been charged.

“Diversions were put in place and the road closed for around seven hours before reopening to traffic at midnight.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said that two ambulances were called out to the scene.

“Ambulance staff attended to one male who had suffered a serious life-threatening injury to his head caused by the crash,” she said.

“A second male suffered severe injuries to his back and head and a third man who suffered concussion. They were taken to Caithness General Hospital in Wick.”

Northern Constabulary is appealing for witnesses who may have seen the collision to contact officers on 01847 893 222.

The stretch of road has gained a reputation of being an accident black spot. Six years ago Polish factory worker Jacek Glowacz was killed when his car left the A836 and ploughed into the stone parapet of a bridge.