Firemen, St John rescue man trapped in bus after accident

A MAN was rescued from a crashed PMV bus after the dashboard jammed the lower part of his body on his seat as a result of the impact near the Murray Barracks roundabout in Port Moresby yesterday.
The bus was travelling from Hohola towards 3-Mile when it collided with another vehicle, causing it to cross the traffic island and onto the oncoming-traffic lane.
The crew and driver of the Route 9 bus disappeared from the scene, with the public helping to call the St John Ambulance and police.
St John staff called in the Boroko Fire Service.
At the scene was St John chief executive officer Matt Cannon, who attended to the victim.
Cannon explained to the victim what would be happening as the fire service rushed to remove him from the wreckage.
Cannon told The National at the scene: “The compression is on his legs and thus the fire service will have to remove the dashboard from him to allow St John Ambulance to assist the man to the hospital.”
The man, in his mid-30s, was from the Highlands region.
He had sustained cuts to his face and had an oxygen mask to help him breath easily.
In a tense 15 minutes, the firemen worked quickly to cut the offside door hinges using the “jaws of life” in their attempt to rescue the man.
The firemen then used what is known as the “spreader” a hydraulic tool that applies pressure to separate the dash board from the victim’s legs.
The man was freed.
The paramedics and the firemen quickly removed him and rushed him to the Port Moresby General Hospital.