Elderly woman dies after being struck by lorry in Gants Hill

An elderly woman has died and a man is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after they were struck by a lorry in Cranbrook Road.

The accident happened in front of Gants Hill Library this afternoon (Thursday, September 24).

Despite the efforts of emergency services the woman died a short time later and the man was taken to hospital.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called to Cranbrook Road, near Headley Approach, at 2.39pm to reports of a collision between a lorry and two pedestrians.

“The lorry driver stopped at the scene and is helping police with their enquiries.”

Cranbrook Road is closed in both directions and traffic is not expected to resume until at least 8pm.

The diversions, coupled with a number of nearby roads being blocked off for the Quiet Roads scheme, is creating “absolute chaos” for traffic in the area according to Cllr Ruth Clark (Con, Fairlop) who is at the scene of the accident.

A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 2.36pm today (September 24) to reports of a road traffic collision on Cranbrook Road.

“We sent two ambulance crews, an incident response officer, our hazardous area response teams and an advanced paramedic. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance. The first of our medics were at the scene in under six minutes.

“Sadly, one person was pronounced dead at the scene. Another person was treated at the scene and has been taken to a major trauma centre as a priority.”