18/06/2012

Ambulance Attacked With Patient Inside

An ambulance had to be removed from service after its crew were attacked by about 20 teenagers.

The crowd surrounded the ambulance and two people got in the front of the vehicle.

More than £500 worth of damage was caused to the emergency vehicle in the attack, which took place in Poleglass, west Belfast, on Saturday evening.

The crew had been responding to an emergency callout and had to protect their patient from the attackers.

Two young people were arrested when the police arrived.

An ambulance spokesman said that although this kind of attack has happened before, the crew were "shaken" due to the young age of the large crowd.

John McPoland of the Ambulance Service said: "I was speaking with the crew this morning and obviously they were very shaken. They were aware that the people were of a pretty young age. That's unusual. It's usually people who are in their late teens or early 20s. These were all mid-teens and it was just the sheer number of the young people who were there which was the most worrying aspect."

(NE)

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