Police Scotland appeal for witnesses following fatal road crash on A99 at Freswick
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POLICE Scotland is appealing for witnesses after a man died following a serious road crash at Freswick yesterday (Sunday, September 6).
The incident happened around 4pm on the A99 at the Freswick Bridge and involved a grey Vauxhall Vectra.
HM Coastguard was called to the incident as the car had gone into the river.
A coastguard spokesperson said: "Six people were accounted for and/or recovered to shore prior to our Wick and Duncansby Coastguard Rescue Teams arriving on scene. All casualties were transferred to hospital by land ambulance, although our coastguard rescue helicopter was sent but was not used to transfer the casualties to hospital."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Emergency services attended and a 32-year-old man was taken to Caithness General Hospital where he later died from his injuries.
"A 26-year-old woman and a three-month-old baby girl were taken to Caithness General Hospital with serious injuries. A three-year-old girl and two boys, aged six and eight, were also taken to hospital with minor injuries. All were later transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary."
The road was closed for around seven hours whilst officers carried out an investigation.
Highlands and Islands road policing sergeant Kate Park said: "Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those involved at this time.
"We are continuing with enquiries to establish the circumstances of the crash. The car, a grey Vauxhall Vectra, had been travelling south towards Wick on the A99 at the time of the incident, however, our initial enquiries have suggested the vehicle may have been travelling north just prior to the collision and turned around to head back south towards Wick.
"It's important that we speak to all witnesses in order to gain a full view of what happened. We are looking to speak to anyone who may have seen the car on the road and is yet to speak to the police to please get in touch.
"We would also ask drivers who were in the area and had a dash-cam to please check back and see if there is any footage of the vehicle on the road that may be able to assist our investigation."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Road Policing Unit based at Dingwall through 101, quoting incident number 2370 of 6 September.
