Red Cross volunteers, who were on stand-by at the Paqpaqli motorshow on Sunday, initially believed only the driver was injured and were shocked to find multiple persons with critical injuries upon reaching the site of the crash.

“The horrific sight we witnessed was much worse than what we had initially imagined,” Owen Micallef, the first medical responder on site, said.

The Red Cross had 28 volunteers and six ambulances on stand-by at the event. The voluntary organisation also set up a mobile clinic.

I had one look out of the windscreen and knew things were actually much worse than we thought

Mr Micallef was close to the barriers when the accident took place and within seconds assembled his crew and headed towards the crowds.

“As I rode in the ambulance, I tried to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to witness. As we drove closer to the scene, I had one look out of the windscreen and knew things were actually much worse than we thought,” he said.

The crew, made up of Mr Micallef and three other volunteers, made a quick assessment of the situation and within seconds identified the persons who were most critically injured. “We instantly realised there were two persons who were critically injured. A man who was very critically injured and the six-year-old girl, who was unresponsive,” Mr Micallef said.

As he was first on site, Mr Micallef was automatically the commander in control until medical teams from Mater Dei showed up. He called in the 24 remaining Red Cross volunteers who were at the motor show.

“The bystanders were, at that point, quite hysterical. Everyone wanted us to assist those closest to them.”

Mr Micallef’s next move was to call the police and request crowd control. “As commander in control I had to make sure that I had a clear understanding of what was going on so that the medical teams would equip the ambulances accordingly.”

Red Cross volunteers also assisted some 30 people who suffered psychological trauma, three of whom were children

“A number of persons fainted, others needed to talk to someone. Our volunteers made sure that these people received the help they needed,” said Robert Brincau, who is the Red Cross head of operations.

Mr Brincau also commended a number of bystanders who knew basic first aid and helped with the casualties.

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