Woman in her 40s who received open heart surgery on dual carriageway after horror crash involving coach dies in hospital

A WOMAN who received open heart surgery on a dual carriageway after a coach and a car crashed has died.

The woman in her 40s, the driver of the car, died after being taken to hospital, police confirmed.

Firefighters cut free one person trapped in a vehicle following the crash, which saw an air ambulance, police and fire crews scrambled to the scene.

The A1018 slip road onto the A19 near Seaham, County Durham, was closed after the crash.

One witness said she saw the coach driver walking near the wrecked vehicle, but added the car looked heavily damaged.

The condition of all those involved in the crash are not yet known, but the Great North Air Ambulance confirmed on Twitter their team performed surgery at the scene.

The tweet said: "Today we were called to a crash on the A19 near Seaham. Our doctor-led trauma team performed open heart surgery on a female in her 40s."

Three fire engines from County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene on the main road at 11.07am.

The Fire and Rescue service confirmed the crews had left the scene just after 1pm.

The two vehicles crashed on the A19 northbound near the slip road.

A spokesman for the North East Ambulance Service confirmed one person was treated and discharged, and another was taken to James Cook Hospital with "life-threatening" injuries."

A spokeswoman from Durham Police told the : "A spokeswoman from Durham Police said: "We were called at 11.04am to the scene of a crash between a coach and car on the northbound side of the A19 near to the turn off for the A1018.