Two injured in river bridge collapse

The pair, who are believed to have been in a shooting party, were rescued from the River Seven at High Askew, near Cropton, on the North York Moors yesterday.

A 65-year-old man from York suffered head injuries and a suspected broken arm and was airlifted by helicopter to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

A man in his 50s was given first aid at the scene and wrapped in blankets before being taken by road to hospital in Scarborough with less serious head injuries.

The Great North Air Ambulance and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance were both scrambled to the scene.

A Great North Air Ambulance spokesman said the 65-year-old victim is thought to have lost consciousness following the fall, though he came round on his way to hospital.

The spokesman said: “The metal footbridge had totally collapsed into the river.

“Although they had been recovered from the water, both were soaked through when our doctor and paramedic team arrived on scene.”

More than a dozen people are believed to have been on the shoot on private land when the drama occurred at 3pm about three-and-a-half miles from Cropton. They rushed to help the victims after they fell.

A Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle and a clinical supervisor from Yorkshire Ambulance Service and two air ambulances from Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Great North Air Ambulance were dispatched to the scene.”

North Yorkshire County Council said investigations would continue today to establish if it was responsible for the bridge, although initial inquiries had suggested the crossing was privately owned.

A spokeswoman said officials from the authority’s highways department would visit the scene early today.

She said: “They will assess the state of the bridge while also establishing its status.”