Vehicle Incident at Christmas Market Injures Seven, Including Two Children

A vehicle collision involving pedestrians at a Christmas market resulted in two young children, one of whom was an infant, being transported to a hospital. The South Western Ambulance Service was alerted to the event on the High Street in Chipping Sodbury, situated close to Bristol, at 11:58 GMT on Sunday. Additionally, five adults sustained injuries. According to Avon and Somerset Police, a man, thought to be in his 80s, struck pedestrians at a low velocity while attempting to exit a parking space. A police spokesperson confirmed that despite the extensive emergency services deployment, no individuals are presently reported to have sustained injuries that are either life-threatening or life-altering. The market town, located approximately 18 miles (29km) north-east of Bristol, received five ambulances, an air ambulance, and various other emergency assets. Paramedics at the site evaluated seven pedestrians, comprising five adults and two children. The event organizers issued a statement via Facebook, affirming that the Christmas Sunday gathering was continuing, notwithstanding the reported injuries. Their statement read: “We have been advised by the police not to cancel today’s event, so the remainder of the High Street from Hobbs House Bakery down towards Broad Street and Horse Street is still open.” They added: “We would ask anyone attending today to please not take photos of the incident, and not speculate on social media as we work with the emergency services to help those people who need assistance.” The event commenced at 11:00 GMT and is scheduled to conclude at 17:30 GMT. Esra Ward, who operates a pizza stall at the market, witnessed the entire sequence of events. Ward recounted: “We were just talking with the customers in front of our van. The car was parked, and suddenly we saw him accelerate coming out of his parking space and hit a couple of people. There was a mum with a baby in a pushchair in front of the car. Apparently at the back he has hit a few more people, a family. They had ambulances and police and fire all here in about five minutes.” Ady Jones, a market stall holder, expressed feeling “shaken” after observing the vehicle “career” from the pavement. He stated: “There was a loud screech. There was lots of shouting and clearly people had been injured. The stalls had to close for quite a while, but thankfully people were not seriously injured. The situation could have been far worse.”