One person has been airlifted to hospital after an oil tanker overturned on a busy Highland road this morning.
The incident occurred on the A87 around seven miles east of Shiel Bridge, with seven fire crews, police and ambulance personnel attending the scene after two people were trapped in the cab of the vehicle.
Reports of the incident were received shortly before 8.30am, with fears raised that the tanker had begun leaking.
A fire spokeswoman said: “We received the stop message at 10.24am.
“Both casualties were removed from the vehicle around 9.46am. Small tools were used to remove the casualties and the tanker driver has been taken by air ambulance to Raigmore Hospital.
“The tanker is currently leaking at a rate of half a litre per minute, with around 200 litres contained in a roadside culvert.
“Police are currently arranging specialist recovery of the vehicle.”
The road is currently closed in both directions with a lengthy diversion in place.
*UPDATE* 10:00⌚️️#A87 North of Loch Cluanie – remains ⛔️CLOSED⛔️ B/W due to an overturned fuel tanker ⚠ All emergency services are on scene.#AvoidIfPossible Alternative routes are lengthy so please leave extra time for your journey.@NWTrunkRoads @HighlandCouncil https://t.co/pZ07sxB5xK
— Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) March 5, 2019
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 0833 hours today to attend an incident on the A87 near the Cluanie Inn.
“We dispatched two ambulances, our special operations team, a manager and our helimed air ambulance to the scene. We airlifted one male patient to Raigmore Hospital.”
Initially eight fire crews in total were tasked to attend, however, a specialist DIM unit, which is used to detect chemicals, was stood down after being tasked from Balmossie in Dundee.
Emergency services remain on scene.
