Speeding Car Flipped & Rolled Into Campsite Hitting Tent With Baby Inside

[Ladybbird]

Newgale Crash: Speeding Ford Fiesta Flipped and Rolled Into Campsite

Speeding Car Rolled Three Times Down a Hill After Catapulting Off a Road Into a Campsite and Hitting a Tent

A baby was inside a tent hit by a car which “flipped and rolled” off a road and into a campsite. Nine people were injured

BBC 14 AUG 2023





The blue Ford Fiesta, carrying a number of passengers, ploughed into people and a tent at Newgale campsite on the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales shortly after 10.30pm on Saturday.

An allegedly speeding car rolled three times down a hill after “catapulting” off a road into a campsite and hitting a tent, it is claimed.


Six people were taken to hospital after the incident at Newgale Camping on the Pembrokeshire coast on Saturday night. Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed that a blue Ford Fiesta left the A487 and crashed into the campsite just after 10:30pm. The injuries of two of the people are being described as serious and they remain in hospital.

One person was airlifted to hospital in Cardiff by air ambulance. Four were taken to Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen and one to Swansea’s Morriston Hospital. Three others were injured but not taken to hospital.

A baby was in the tent that was hit, but was not injured, said Mike Harris who owns the campsite and has shared details of the incident. He had only left the campsite minutes before the incident happened.

newgale crash: 'speeding ford fiesta flipped and rolled into camp as it tried to brake'

He said: “I’ve seen it on the CCTV now, the car tumbled three times before it went over the tent and continued rolling before it ended upright on top of people. It could have been even worse. There was a baby in there and the only reason they were saved was because they were in a cot.”

He continued: “I’ve never seen anything like it, nothing on that scale. The car was travelling so fast it catapulted from the road. I’d say it must have travelled around 80 meters from where is started breaking.” Describing the aftermath of the incident, which also saw the people in the car injured, Mike described it as “carnage.” He said his staff had called him immediately after the incident but he wasn’t there at the time.

“With the injured screaming, people trying to help, I have to say the emergency services came very quick. There were also two surgeons, very medically qualified people, staying on the campsite so they started organising and treating people and were able to give a bit of a handover. People could not have been better placed to help out in that sense,” he added.

Mike’s wife Clare said the car was “speeding down the hill” and tried to brake after realising it needed to slow down. But at that point, it “flipped and rolled several times”, crashing into the tent.

She added: “There was a young child, a baby, in the tent at the time, thankfully they are okay. It’s a tragic accident that the police are dealing with, that’s all we can say at the moment.” One person was airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales, the Welsh Ambulance Service said, which was assisted by HM Coastguard.

The car is believed to have been travelling from the village of Roch towards St Davids when it crashed off the A487. The campsite owners added it is peak season but the campsite was not as busy as normal due to poor weather.

Mr Harris told Wales Online: “There are no fatalities and from what I understand none of the injuries are life-threatening but I would say some are certainly life-changing.” He said that the vehicle appeared to hit an area where a group of people from several tents had gathered outside their tents to socialise.

He added: “It happened at 10:38pm, I had left the campsite four minutes earlier and didn’t hear or see anything. My staff heard the screaming and informed me immediately while they called the emergency services.

“I think they first thought there would have been fatalities and that’s why there were so many [emergency vehicles] here. I think one baby was saved purely by the fact it was in a cot.” The ages of those injured has not been confirmed, neither has the severity of their injuries at this time.






A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called yesterday (12 August) at around 22:40 to reports of an incident at Newgale Campsite, Pembrokeshire.