Ambulance overturns after crash at downtown Corbin intersection

Three people were injured, and a Knox County EMS ambulance was severely damaged, in a two-vehicle crash Sunday evening at the corner of Fifth Street and Kentucky Ave. in Corbin.

The accident happened at about 5:55 p.m. According to Corbin Police, a Knox County EMS ambulance was traveling south on Kentucky Ave. on its way to Baptist Regional Medical Center when the crash occurred. It was transporting a patient who had been complaining of back pain and had both emergency lights and sirens engaged at the time.

It came up on the red light at the intersection of Kentucky Ave. and Fifth Street when it was hit in the side by a 2010 Chevrolet Impala driven by Robert A. Walker II, of Corbin.

According to Corbin Police Sgt. Jim Miller, who investigated the accident, Patsy Brown, the driver of the ambulance, failed to obey the red light at the intersection. Walker had the right of way.

Walker claims she slowed to around 5 mph before going through the intersection. Witnesses contend the ambulance was traveling at a high rate of speed when it ran the red light.

The ambulance spun around, and then tipped over on its side. Brown was pinned in and had to be extricated from the wreckage by the Corbin Fire Department.

An EMT on board, Shereen Reynolds, and the patient that was being transported, Donna Phipps, also suffered injuries. All three were taken to Baptist Regional Medical Center for treatment and were later released.

Walker was uninjured.

Miller said the building at the intersection, Central Baptist Church, was an "environmental contributing factor" to the crash since it limited line of sight.

Police do not suspect drugs or alcohol played any role in the accident and neither driver was issued any traffic citations.