British soldiers had to be airlifted home after a ‘six-car pile up’ in Estonia left 17 people injured – with three troops still in hospital.
The smash unfolded on the Tallin-Narva highway near the border with Russia on Friday last week.
Three Army minibuses were said to have been involved, and 17 people – including the 12 British troops – were raced to hospital.
According to local media, the smash unfolded after a 37-year-old woman driving a Volvo S80 made a left turn and collided with a BMW 530D driven by a woman, 62.
This was said to have started a ‘chain reaction’ and saw four other vehicles collide.
The minibuses were said to have been carrying the soldiers to their base in Tapa.
Emergency services raced to the scene and ambulances raced the troops, as well as five others, to hospital.
The British soldiers had been deployed as part of a special NATO mission designed to deter attacks from Russia.
The smash is though to have happened in the midst of blizzard just 20 miles from the Russia border.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘Several British soldiers deployed on Operation CABRIT in Estonia were injured in a road traffic incident last Friday.
Twelve British troops were involved in a smash on the Tallin-Narva highway, near the border with Russia, on Friday night
Following hospital treatment in Estonia, eight personnel were flown back to the UK on an RAF C-17 for further treatment
Britain’s armoured vehicles prepare to move at the Tapa Military Camp, in Estonia, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023
‘Following hospital treatment in Estonia, eight personnel were flown back to the UK on an RAF C-17 for further treatment.
‘Five have since been discharged and three are being cared for at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. We wish them all a speedy recovery.’
The news comes as roughly 900 British troops have been deployed as part of Operation Carbit along with Danish, French, and Estonian forces.
The UK also has Challenger 2 tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, mobile heavy artillery guns and armoured infantry units.
Individual injuries and medical details of personnel involved in the minibus crash have not been disclosed by the Ministry of Defence.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
