Search & rescue operation locates crash victim on Old Tunnel Mill Rd

Monday, June 18, ,2012, 11:15 a.m. — A search and rescue operation just located the victim of a automobile accident that sent the vehicle off the road and down an embankment in the Bloomfield area. A Northeast Nelson firefighter located the woman and the car on Old Tunnel Mill Road at its intersection with Murphy Lane at 11:10 Monday morning. Police and firefighters are enroute to rescue the victim.

The search for the woman lasted about an hour, beginning with a call to Nelson County Dispatch from KSP at about 10:20 Monday morning.  All the victim could tell dispatchers was that the car ran off the road and down an embankment.

First responders used sirens to try to determine when they were close to the woman’s location, and she repeatedly blew her vehicle horn to allow rescuers to find her. KSP provided several estimates of her location based on her cell phone that placed her first on US150 near the county line, then on Shumate Lane near the river. Rescuers were unable to locate her as they searched the Woodlawn area near the river.

The victim was located several miles northeast of where rescuers were told to look for her. She was located by a member of the Northeast Nelson Fire Department who located where the car she was in ran off Tunnel Mill Road at Murphy Lane. She told dispatchers that a male occupant of the vehicle left the scene on foot immediately after the crash.

A state police helicopter was enroute to assist with the search when the woman was located. The firefighter helped the woman out of the vehicle and up the embankment. Nelson County EMS transported the woman to Flaget Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment of possible injuries.

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