Bodfari A541 crash: Two arrests and seven in hospital

Two people have been arrested after a three-car crash which turned one car into a “ball of flames” left seven people in hospital.

Three people were airlifted to major trauma centres from the scene of the crash on the A541 near the Downing Arms Inn in Bodfari, Denbighshire, on Wednesday evening, while four others were taken by ambulance to hospitals in the area.

North Wales Police said their injuries ranged from life threatening to life changing and two people have been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injuries by dangerous driving.

Tony Johnson, who lives nearby, said he helped pull one driver from a burning car which was engulfed by flames “within two minutes”.

The road was cleared and reopened on Thursday morning, but the aftermath of the collision could clearly be seen.

Debris and small parts of vehicles were visible on the same side of the road as the now-closed Downing Arms Inn.

The collision happened in a 40mph zone just before the road changes to 60mph as you leave the village.

A wooden fence of a nearby property could and nearby trees and bushes were also damaged.

Tony Johnson, who lives nearby, was one of the first people on the scene.

He said: “We were sat down to have dinner around 19:20 last night when we heard a tremendous bang. The kind of bang where you know something serious has happened.

“We came outside to the road, a couple of vehicles obviously had a big collision, one of them was on fire.”

He said he and a neighbour approached the burning car and saw the driver was still inside.

“We made the decision to get him out, because there was obviously danger with the fire… within two minutes, the whole vehicle was in a ball of flames.”

Mr Johnson said the location of the collision was on “a nasty blind bend” which was prone to accidents, but not “as bad as this one”.

Scott Davidson, on whose property the accident partly happened, was out when it happened but said the scene was “horrendous” when he returned.

“One car was on fire and the paramedics, ambulance, police – there must have been 20 or 30 people treating the guys in the accident,” he said.

“The car on fire was in the main road on the opposite side, one of the cars has come through our fence onto our property.”