Up to 5 hurt when SUV hits ambulance

Up to five people were injured Monday night after an Alexander County, Illinois, ambulance carrying a patient was struck by an SUV at Independence Street and West End Boulevard in Cape Girardeau.

The ambulance was not operating its red lights or sirens, Cape Girardeau Police Department public-information officer Rick Schmidt said.

Two to three ambulances responded to the accident. While he could not give information about the severity of the people's injuries, Schmidt said it's not uncommon for medical personnel in the back of an ambulance to be unbuckled while transporting a patient.

"There are emergency personnel in the back of an ambulance normally and not seat-belted in because it's hard to attend to a patient," Schmidt said.

No fault has been declared in the collision, but Schmidt said the accident should be easily reviewable through city traffic cameras.

"We'll have a real good idea," he said. "Cameras don't blink, and they don't forget."

Pertinent address: Independence and West End, Cape Girardeau, Mo.