Woman who lay in crashed car in Scotland for three days dies

Lamara Bell was not rescued for days despite crash being reported to police

Lamara Bell, a woman who lay in a crashed car beside her partner for three days, despite the accident being reported days earlier to Scottish police, has died.  Photograph: Police Scotland/PA Wire
Lamara Bell, a woman who lay in a crashed car beside her partner for three days, despite the accident being reported days earlier to Scottish police, has died. Photograph: Police Scotland/PA Wire

A woman who lay in a crashed car beside her partner for three days, despite the crash being reported days earlier to Scottish police, has died.

Lamara Bell (25) was left critically injured and her boyfriend, John Yuill (28) died following the crash at the M9 near Stirling last Sunday.

The incident was reported to police that day, but was not followed up for 72 hours.

Ms Bell was taken to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital but has now lost her fight for life, her brother confirmed on Facebook.

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Martin Bell stated: “My sister just passed away.”

Ms Bell had reportedly been placed in a medically-induced coma when she was being treated at Glasgow’s new hospital.

Numerous tributes to her have been posted online.

Scotland’s police chief last week apologised to the relatives of the two crash victims.

Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House admitted police had "failed both families".

The couple were reported missing after visiting Loch Earn, Stirlingshire, in a blue Renault Clio.

It emerged that a member of the public contacted Police Scotland at about 11.30am on Sunday, July 5th to report they could see the vehicle down an embankment near the M9 slip road at Bannockburn.

The call was answered, but “for reasons yet to be established” it was not entered onto the police systems and no action was taken at the time.

The car was found when officers were called to the scene by another member of the public on Wednesday.

The police investigations and review commissioner (Pirc) is carrying out an independent investigation into the circumstances of the incident, under the direction of the Crown Office.

There have also been calls for a wider inquiry into the operation of Scotland’s single police force in light of the incident.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie has said the case for such an inquiry was becoming "unanswerable" and has questioned Sir Stephen's assertion that the incident centred around an "individual failure" in the service.

The MSP said workload pressure on the police service has been “immense” since the reorganisation of the service into a single force over two years ago - a move which included the centralisation of police control rooms.

PA