A Tandragee councillor has thanked the “real heroes” in the emergency services – and those who came to the aid of the injured – after walking away from a serious three‑car collision on the Markethill Road outside his home town.
The Independent Unionist representative, who was involved in the crash on Thursday afternoon, said his car was written off but he escaped with “a few bruises” – and stressed his main concern is now for the two other drivers who remain in hospital.
“Thankfully, I was able to walk away, I’m thankful to the man above for his protection,” said Alderman Berry.
“There had [been] two other people obviously involved in it, two other vehicles. They have been hospitalised, but thankfully, not life‑threatening, which is good news. I’ve been in touch with the families, and I’ll continue to be in touch with them.”
Cllr Berry praised those who rushed to help at the scene, as well as the police, fire and ambulance crews.
“I really want to thank the emergency services, the PSNI and the fire brigade for arriving within minutes. Absolutely brilliant,” he said.
“And to the people who were on the road helping us, to support us through the shock and through the serious situation that we were in.
“One thing I want to highlight is this is nothing about me. I just want to thank the people for their messages because I was afraid of people thinking I was seriously ill, and thankfully I’m not.
“Thankfully, I walked away from it, a few bruises, but apart from that, I’m 100%.”
Cllr Berry has also used his experience at the roadside to call for urgent action on health service pressures, saying delays in ambulance response linked to pressures at Craigavon Area Hospital were “seriously wrong”.
He said the collision happened shortly before 4.45pm, but claimed one injured man in his 70s lay at the roadside for around two hours before an ambulance arrived, with a second injured person waiting close to three hours.
“There’s something seriously wrong,” he said.
“It’s time Stormont got their act together, stopped worrying about the green and the orange and who gets what and who doesn’t get what. We’ve had enough.
“I witnessed it last night. Thankfully, I was unscathed. Thankfully, I was fit to deal with what was on the scene and report it to the emergency services. It could have been a lot different. But seriously, folks, something needs to happen.
“I’m sending a message to Stormont and sending a message to everybody that needs to hear this. Our health service is under massive pressure, but there were two people lying on the side of the road last night in a cold, wet, frosty night.
“And frankly, that could have killed them, especially a man in the 70s. And something needs to be done.
“The ambulances were queued up in Craigavon Area Hospital. There was no room to take those people out of the ambulances to put them into the hospital so they could get to the Markethill Road in Tandragee, and there’s serious questions need to be asked and I will be raising this with the Health Trust.”
He added: “Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. Please continue to pray for the two individuals that are still in hospital that they’ll make a full recovery, and this could have been a lot worse.
“And we’re thankful to the man above for his hand upon us all.”
Police, meanwhile, have confirmed details of the collision and issued an appeal for information.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police received a report at around 4.45pm on Thursday, October 8 of a three‑vehicle collision in the Markethill Road area of Tandragee.
“Officers attended the scene, along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, with two people taken on to hospital for treatment.
“Enquiries are ongoing and anyone who witnessed what happened or has any information which might assist – including dash‑cam or other footage – is asked to contact police using our witness appeal form at https://reporting.psni.police.uk/appeals, quoting reference 1171 of 08/10/26, or to call police on 101.”
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