Woman Dies In Fire Engine Crash

A woman has died after the car she was driving collided with a fire engine in Basildon on Friday morning.

The victim has now been named as 39-year-old Martha Gakonde from Wythefield in the town.

An Essex Police spokesman said: "We were called to a road traffic crash at 9am on Friday (9th September) at Broadmayne, Basildon. Two vehicles were involved, a fire engine and another car. There was one occupant in the car and the driver was certified dead immediately."

Police said the woman was driving a beige Toyota Yaris.

The road was closed for over seven hours on Friday and Essex Police is appealing for witnesses to the collision to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0300 333 4444.

A spokesman from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) said the fire engine was responding to an emergency call where an 11-year-old child was trapped in a vehicle.

A statement on its website said: "The appliance was leaving the station responding to an emergency call when the incident happened by the fire station. The alarm was raised by crews. The appliance was responding to a road traffic collision in Ashlyns, Basildon, where an 11-year-old child was trapped in a vehicle."

It said fire crews used cutting equipment to free the woman.

Senior Divisional Officer Mark Wilson, who heads Essex Fire Service's West Command, said: "We would like to express our deepest sympathy to the family of the woman involved in this terrible accident.

"Although full and thorough investigations will be carried out by both the police and fire Service, it is important to remember today that this family is suffering a tragic loss and all of our thoughts are with them. We will offer them our support in any way it is needed.

"Members of the crew, although unhurt, are extremely distressed and shaken by this tragic incident. They were responding to an emergency call to save a child trapped in another incident nearby - saving life is what they do every day so to be directly involved in an accident with such serious consequences deeply affects all of us."

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