Man trapped under glass hearse carriage while inside lorry airlifted to Cambridge hospital

The emergency crews at the scene faced a 'difficult task', says a chief fireman

The man, believed to be in his 40s, was trying to unload a horse-drawn carriage similar to that shown above from a lorry (Getty Images)

A man who became trapped under a glass hearse carriage while inside a lorry has been rescued and airlifted to hospital.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, was pinned down by the horse-drawn carriage and suffered a serious leg injury while trying to manoeuvre it from a lorry in Cambridgeshire.

Firefighters received the unusual call at about 11:30am on 4 August and struggled for some time with airbags and mechanical equipment to free him. Horses were not attached to the carriage.

Ady Slack, the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue station commander told the Peterborough Telegraph: "The crews were faced with a difficult task with a horse-drawn carriage trapping an adult within a LGV box lorry.

"Crews worked well with ambulance paramedics and doctors on scene to rescue the man, who was taken to hospital by air ambulance.”

The man was taken from the site of the incident near the market town of Chatteris to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge by air ambulance.

A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service said both an ambulance vehicle and a rapid response vehicle were dispatched to the scene. The carriage belonged to nearby firm Townies Carriage Hire.

Meanwhile, a helicopter from an emergency medical charity, Magpas Air Ambulance, took the man to a hospital in Cambridge.

"We received a call at 11.35am yesterday to Tick Fen, Chatteris, to a report of a man who was trapped under a horse carriage," said an East of England Ambulance spokesperson in a statement.

“They treated a man, believed to be in his 40s, who had suffered a serious leg injury. He was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for further treatment.”