Car went 'up to three times the speed limit' when it struck campsite

Car was travelling ‘up to three times the speed limit’ when it ploughed into a tent ‘with a baby inside’ and injured nine campers

• A speeding car ‘veered off the road’ into a campsite in Pembrokeshire, Wales
• Nine people were injured after the car ploughed into a tent at around 80-90mph

A car was travelling ‘up to three times the speed limit’ when it ploughed into a tent ‘with a baby inside’ and injured nine campers, it was claimed tonight.

Six people were taken to hospital and three others were injured when a blue Ford Fiesta ‘flipped and rolled’ into a campsite in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, at around 10.40pm on Saturday.

Holidaymakers had gathered to socialise outside when horrified staff heard ‘screaming’ at Newgale Campsite, which borders the A487.

Mike Harris, who runs the campsite with his wife Clare, told Sky News the Ford was going ’80 or 90mph in a 30mph’ zone. He alleged the vehicle ‘catapulted from the road because of the speed’ at which the driver was going.

The car, which was carrying a number of passengers, is thought to have been travelling from the village of Roch towards St Davids – renowned as Britain’s smallest city – when it ‘veered off the road, turned three full turns and landed on its wheels’ before rolling into ‘a tent belonging to a family’.

A car that veered off the road and ploughed into a tent ‘with a baby inside’ and injured nine campers was travelling ‘at least three times the speed limit’ when it lost control, it has emerged

Mike Harris, (pictured) who runs the campsite with his wife Clare, told Sky News the Ford was going ’80 or 90mph in a 30mph’ zone. He alleged the vehicle ‘catapulted from the road because of the speed’ at which the driver was going

Investigators were pictured at the site of the crash in the Newgale Campsite in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Emergency services were called to the scene at around 10.40pm on Saturday

Holidaymakers had gathered to socialise outside when horrified staff heard ‘screaming’ at Newgale Campsite, which borders the A487 in Pembrokeshire, west Wales

Two people are in serious condition after the car collided with campers on Saturday, with passengers in the car among those injured.

One person was airlifted to hospital in Cardiff, while four others were taken to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen and another person was taken to Swansea’s Morriston Hospital.

Witnesses heard screeching tyres followed by a loud bang as the driver ‘had to brake and lost control’.

Mr Harris, who believes the car was going about three times the speed limit, told Sky News: ‘I didn’t realise a car could go so fast down the road.

‘It catapulted from the road because of the speed he was going, over the ditch separating the campsite and main road and landed about 100m from where the driver started braking.

‘It turned three full turns and landed on its wheels. It rolled through a tent belonging to a family. The baby was in a cot.

‘The vehicle then rolled and rested on top of three people.

‘The campers managed to lift the vehicle 90 degrees to tilt it forward and rest on its side. They freed the three people.’

Mr Harris said he believed the baby ‘was saved purely by the fact it was in a cot.’

‘Miraculously there was no fatalities,’ he added. ‘There are no life-threatening injuries but life-changing injuries of varying degrees.’

His wife added: ‘The car was speeding down the hill, realised it needed to slow down and tried to brake. It flipped and rolled several times, and crashed into the tent.

‘There was a young child, a baby, in the tent at the time, thankfully they are okay. It’s a tragic accident that the police are dealing with, that’s all we can say at the moment.’

A multi-agency emergency response saw police, fire, ambulance and coastguard crews descend on the scene. Pictured: An HM Coastguard helicopter arriving last night

The A487 road between Roch and St Davids on the western Welsh coast was closed overnight while investigations took place. The cordon was lifted on Sunday morning and the campsite is open as normal

Many campers later packed up and left, with a swathe of the field where the car ended up lying empty.

Nicky Lewis described hearing ‘harrowing screeching of tyres followed by an ear-blasting bang’.

Among those first on the scene was Laura Kennard, who said the drama had been ‘terrible to witness’.

A friend ‘helped flip the car to free trapped people and I got the baby out of his cot in the flattened bell tent,’ she wrote on social media.

‘I don’t think this will ever leave my mind,’ she posted, adding that she had cut short her stay as a result.

Levi Davies, 24, from Gwent, was staying on the campsite when the crash happened and described hearing ‘a lot of screaming and shouting’.

‘We heard the tyres screeching as they came round the corner and then a loud bang as the car came over the bank and onto the campsite,’ he told Sky.

‘In blind panic we ran out. There was two campers, one was really bad, he was in a really bad way.’

The red strobe lights of a rescue helicopter seen hovering over the Newgale Campsite on Saturday. Six people were taken to hospital – including one casualty who was airlifted to Cardiff – and two people are seriously injured

 Campsite boss Mike Harris said of the incident: ‘There are no fatalities and from what I understand none of the injuries are life-threatening but I would say some are certainly life-changing’

Two surgeons and a firefighter who happened to be camping at the site in the surfing village of Newgale are understood to have administered first aid.

Meanwhile a massive emergency response swung into action, with six ambulances and a Coastguard helicopter scrambled to the site.

Six people were taken to hospital, two of them with serious injuries. Three others were hurt but did not require hospital treatment.

Dyfed-Powys Police said passengers in the car are among those injured.

Police said: ‘The blue Ford Fiesta, which contained a number of occupants, is believed to have been travelling from Roch towards St Davids veered off the road.

‘It crashed into the campsite, colliding with a number of people and a tent, injuring nine, including passengers in the car. 

‘The injuries sustained by two of them are described as serious. They remain in hospital.’

They appealed for witnesses to come forward with accounts and dashcam footage as they piece together what happened.

The Newgale Campsite sits beside the A487 in Pembrokeshire, Wales

The spokesperson added: ‘We are especially interested in any dash-cam or doorbell footage which may have captured the vehicle being driven from Roch to the scene of the collision at Newgale.’

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference DP-20230812-402. Tips can also be passed on anonymously via Crimestoppers.

The road was closed for nine hours while investigations took place.

Images shared on social media show a huge emergency presence at the campsite last night. The red lights of a rescue helicopter could be seen hovering over the area as multiple emergency vehicles parked. 

HM Coastguard said its helicopter had been sent from St Athan, near Barry in South Wales. 

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