A police vehicle, two lorries and a car were involved in a dramatic smash on the north’s busiest road yesterday.
Five people made a miraculous escape without serious injuries from the four-vehicle crash.
The collision happened at the junction of the A9 Inverness to Perth road and the A938 road to Carrbridge at about 9.45am yesterday.
It caused serious damage to the front of the police’s Mitsubishi Outlander, while the two lorries ended up wedged together at the side of the road.
A fourth car, a silver saloon, was also involved in the collision and ended up at the side of the A9 with damage to its front end.
Nobody was seriously injured in the incident, although the driver of one of the HGVs had to be rescued after becoming stuck in his cab due to the way his lorry ground to a halt.
A police spokesman said that the male driver had suffered minor injuries in the incident but he did not require hospital treatment.
Police confirmed that a report would be made to the procurator fiscal as a result of the incident.
Despite nobody being seriously injured, the busy trunk road remained closed for more than three hours while police carried out an investigation.
Three of the four vehicles involved also needed to be recovered.
Southbound traffic was diverted through Carrbridge, with restrictions in place for high vehicles.
However, no diversions were available for northbound traffic, forcing drivers to queue until the incident was cleared.
The road finally reopened at 12.55pm.
The two HGVs appeared to have been travelling opposite directions, with southbound lorry ending up jackknifed across the road as a result of the accident.
The police vehicle was in the exit of the Carrbridge junction, while the car came to rest on the opposite side of the road from the turn-off.
A police spokesman said: “There were five people involved in the collision and of these involved, one received a minor injury.
“A report regarding the collision will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.”
Fire crews from Aviemore, Grantown, Kingussie and a heavy rescue platform from Inverness attended the incident and helped free the stuck HGV driver.
Elsewhere, an HGV towing a dumper truck yesterday went off the A82 Inverness to Fort William between Invermoriston and Alltsigh.
The vehicles ended up in a ditch off the busy route.
A police spokesman said that nobody had been injured in the incident but added that recovery would have to be arranged to remove the HGV.