8 British soldiers injured in major car crash in Estonia transported to UK

TALLINN - A British allied unit based in the Tapa military compound in Estonia decided to transport eight soldiers, who were injured in a traffic accident on Friday in the Toila rural municipality, East-Viru County, to the United Kingdom after receiving medical treatment in Estonia, Postimees reports.

Spokespeople for the British Ministry of Defense confirmed to The Independent on Tuesday that eight personnel were flown back to the United Kingdom for further treatment, with five of those since discharged and the remaining three still at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Twelve British soldiers were injured in a major car crash that ended in a vehicle pile-up during a NATO exercise in Estonia. The accident occurred at 4:52 p.m. on Friday at the intersection of the Tallinn-Narva highway and Lagedi-Oru road in the Toila rural municipality.

The chain collision started when a 37-year-old woman made a left turn in her Volvo S80, cutting in front of a BMW 530D driven by a 62-year-old woman. The collision between the two cars was followed by a pile-up involving four more vehicles -- a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter minibus traveling toward Narva, driven by a 65-year-old man, and three Toyota Proace minibuses coming from Narva. The Toyota minibuses were carrying allied troops heading to their base in Tapa.

Ambulances transported 17 people to the hospital from the scene -- five people from the BMW and 12 allied soldiers from the two Toyota minibuses.