drama

[llywela]

It's been a bit of a bad evening in Cardiff, thanks to a lunatic driver who took it into his head to go careering through the west of the city, hitting as many people as he possibly could - news article here. At least 12 people are known to be injured - when I caught the bus to my mum's earlier (had a job getting there, though, due to the road closures and tailbacks), the bus driver said he'd heard of three fatalities, but that isn't confirmed. The main A&E unit up at the hospital was closed to all other patients, so they could respond to the incident effectively.

And my little sis was caught up in the middle of it all - she was with a friend at McDonalds just down the road from my house when the whole retail park was closed down by the police because the man had run over two people there, as well, and that's where he was arrested. We had her on the phone in a panic, not knowing what to do - we told her to stay put! So they stayed there watching the air ambulance set down in the football club car park, just alongside McDonalds, until police started letting people leave the shops - then they ran from there to our cousin's house nearby to sit it out until the roads opened properly again.

Among the injured is a friend of our family - Anastasia is a young mum attached to my uncle's church in Ely; her sister JoJo went out with my cousin for a while. Annie was just walking down the road with her two-year-old daughter Amelia when this bloke drove his van right into them, completely randomly. Thank God the baby escaped with some bruising, but Annie's leg is broken in two places - not ideal when you have a toddler to care for. Still, it could have been so much worse.

Edit - the news is now reporting one fatality, 11 injured - 7 of them children. :(

Edit again - the Daily Mail website actually has a picture of Annie and Amelia, here.

Comments

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

There are no words, really. Prayers for all those affected.

I mean ... seriously???????

[(Anonymous)]

Jo, that's terrible news. I hope your friend recovers well - the shock alone must be terrible, let alone the actual injuries, but thanks heavens it was no worse.

Sue

[seasight.livejournal.com]

Oh my god! I hope your family come out all right. *hugs*

[lembeau.livejournal.com]

My thoughts go out to all that were hurt. Omg, this is just madness! I'm so very relieved that the baby was ok.

[(Anonymous)]

I saw it on TV last night and thought of you. Lots of people will be praying for and about this terrible situation. What sort of person does that??

Rachel

[(Anonymous)]

This is terrible. How can someone drive into people? Just read he was attacking people with a krook lock as well. Hope they put him away and throw away the key.

Hope you friends get over this. I am sure it is something that will be hard for them to get over and the other people involved too.

Luv Lin

[thisbluespirit]

What an awful thing - hard to imagine, it's so crazy. :-/

Hope your friend recovers soon.

[femsc.livejournal.com]

Totally bizarre and horrific behaviour from that driver. I heard about via Facebook from a friend who works in the Heath. She couldn't quite believe what was coming in to A&E, and the rumours at the hospital weren't much better than those circulating elsewhere.

My initial thought was that the driver had some sort of fit and lost control of his van, but as more details emerged it became clear that this was very far from the case.

I hope Anastasia recovers quickly. Her legs will mend, but the emotional and psychological trauma may take a lot longer to heal.
And poor old Chel being in the wrong place at entirely the wrong time! I hope she didn't see or hear anything too upsetting.

(((Hugs)))

[kelzies.livejournal.com]

Heard about that on the telly. How horrific. Many thoughts are with everyone affected by this tradegy. I hope that your friend recovers soon. Don't get how some people can do this to others? It's insane.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

Wales does seem to be suffering some uncharacteristically horrible things happening recently, what with this horror, poor little April Jones and the awful fire in Prestatyn.
Poor Chelsea, too, being caught up in the middle of it on Friday but at least she was safe indoors then. And I hope your friend makes an full recovery and that her little girl doesn't remember it at all as time goes by. You just have to wonder what could have been going through this man's mind, driving aound and picking out such defenceless targets repeatedly.