Coach crash on A9 at Dalwhinnie

Tough day. Didn’t get to bed until the small hours last night, so didn’t get up until 10am and had to dash straight out to a coach crash about 20 miles away on the A9 at Dalwhinnie. There were already huge tailbacks by the time I arrived so I left my car at the side of the road and walked the rest of the way, which turned out to be three miles! On one of the warmest days of the year so far.

Still, you gotta do what you gotta do. Fortunately a kind press officer from Northern Constabulary gave me a lift back to my car after the shoot. Honestly I think another 3-mile walk would have just about finished me off so I was very grateful for the lift.

I often tell people that the most important thing for a news photographer to have in their bag, after their camera, is a child’s toy. That way, when you get to an accident scene, you can put the toy on the road to make the scene more poignant. That’s a joke of course But look what was lying in clear view at this scene. The coach had been full of tourists who were returning from their holiday in the Highlands, and one of them must have bought a Scottish cuddly toy. Or it may have been a mascot propped up against the front window of the coach because that’s where it was lying.

The incident caused tailbacks of six miles…

Some of the injured passengers had been taken to Kingussie Medical Practice:

A few papers had staff photographers covering the incident scene, but I was the only person who got photos of the un-injured passengers at the hotel in Newtonmore where they had been taken until another coach could be arranged.

So overall a good day’s work, I’d say. Tough to do it without having had anything to eat all day, but satisfying to know that I made the effort and covered the story well from all angles.