A 15-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after suffering burns in a field near Darlington's White Horse Pub, in an incident police describe as a tragic accident.
Incident details
Emergency services, including an air ambulance, police, and paramedics, were called to the scene on Monday afternoon. The boy sustained burns to his lower body and received urgent medical attention before being flown to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
Durham Constabulary said the teen is believed to have been using petrol when it was accidentally set alight. The force described the incident as a "tragic accident" and said it is not currently being treated as criminal.
Emergency response
Police were called just after 5:05 pm on August 3 following reports of a teenage boy suffering burns. The incident occurred in a field near the White Horse Pub in Harrowgate Hill. The boy remains in a stable condition in hospital.
The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said they were called just after 4:50 pm to assist a patient with burns to their lower body. An ambulance crew and the air ambulance treated the patient before airlifting them to hospital.
The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) activated its critical care team at 5:04 pm. A spokesperson said: "We had a paramedic and doctor on board our aircraft and they arrived on scene at 5:11 pm. Our team worked alongside the North East Ambulance Service to assess and treat a patient and airlifted them to hospital."
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service was not involved in the incident.
