A SHAKEN man told of his panic on hearing family members had been involved in a crash in Bradford where an ambulance was knocked onto its side.

Kamal Khan's wife Lubnagul and their two daughters, aged 14 and 13, were in a silver Kia that was involved in a collision with the emergency vehicle on Great Horton Road yesterday.

Mrs Khan, 45, suffered a suspected broken leg and broken hip in the collision, while one of the children suffered facial injuries. The ambulance was responding to a 999 call and is believed to have gone through a red light when the crash happened.

Witnesses described seeing a man jump onto the ambulance when it came to rest to try and rescue the paramedics trapped inside, while others tended to the Khan family in the car.

The collision happened at about 7.45am. Mrs Khan's car was coming out of Ward Street, opposite Tesco, and collided with the ambulance, sending it into a traffic light pole before it rolled onto its side and came to rest just before Great Horton Road's junction with Ewart Street.

Mr Khan said: "She was taking the kids to school and then I was told there was an accident - it was a shock for me.

AMBULANCE ROLLS ONTO ITS SIDE IN RUSH HOUR COLLISION

"I was panicking and a bit shaken. You would be when three family members are involved."

Suresh Gohil, owner of a petrol station and mechanics across the road from the crash scene, said: "We went to the people in the car and told them to keep calm. The front-seat passenger had a bad face injury.

"We calmed them down - they were shaken."

Natalie Hall, 27, who lives opposite the scene, said: "I heard a loud bang, came out, and saw the ambulance on its side."

Firefighters cut the roof off the Kia to free the occupants and police closed Great Horton Road on the Horton Bank Top-bound side between Southfield Lane and Ewart Street for about three hours. Traffic was still allowed to travel past the scene towards Bradford city centre.

PC Andy Richardson, of the roads policing unit, appealed for witnesses to the crash to come forward and added: "The ambulance was responding to a call and was coming away from the city.

"The car has come out of Ward Street - the car's traffic lights were on green. It hit the ambulance on the side."

Any witnesses can contact police on 101.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “At the time of the collision the ambulance was responding to an emergency call.

"As soon as the incident was reported we immediately deployed another resource to the original emergency call to avoid any delay.

“Two ambulances and a rapid response vehicle were deployed to the incident on Great Horton Road. The ambulance crew suffered no injuries. The driver of the car was taken to Leeds General Infirmary with leg injuries and two passengers were taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary with minor injuries.

“This incident is currently being looked into by the Trust and we are assisting West Yorkshire Police with their enquiries.”