A one-year-old baby girl escaped virtually unscathed after she was hurled through a car window and onto a busy main road in a high-speed crash.

Nafisa Ali bounced on the carriageway after the two-car collision at a Bradford accident blackspot condemned by police.

The accident happened the day after the T&A highlighted safety fears over the junction. A court was told on Friday that drivers sometimes find it hard to notice traffic lights at junctions with Canal Road.

In the smash yesterday a BMW, which was carrying Nafisa and three members of her family, was in collision with a Peugeot at the junction with Airedale Road.

The BMW somersaulted across the road and hit a lamppost and the baby was catapaulted through a window, landing 50 feet away in the middle of the road. Amazingly, she escaped with only minor cuts and bruises.

Baby Nasifa and her mum Sarina Bi had been on their way to spend a week with relatives in Bradford. Sarina's brother Mohammed Yaser had driven the family over from their home in Blackburn. Both mother and baby were due to leave hospital later today.

The baby's father, 48-year-old Syluk Ali, suffered a broken pelvis and was trapped in the wreckage for 20 minutes until firefighters could free him.

Her mother, Sarina Bi, 26, and another relative, Mohammed Yaser, 19, were also taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary but later discharged.

Mr Yaser's daughter, Famina, 19, speaking from her home in Johnson Street, Blackburn, said: "My dad is still in hospital and we are coming over to Bradford to see him. Nasifa and Sarina will be going to stay with Sarina's mum in Bradford when they come out of hospital. "

Susan Jest, from Thorpe Edge, was one of three passing motorists who stopped to comfort the baby until ambulance crews arrived.

The 28-year-old, from Farmhill Road, said: "I saw a white blob in the road and then realised it was a baby. Two other women were trying to comfort her.

"She was trying to lift her head and crawl through the glass, so we slid a blanket underneath her and waited for the paramedics to arrive."

Station officer Barry Roberts, from Bradford fire station, said: "When we arrived you could smell the petrol. It would have only taken a small spark and the whole lot would have gone up, with the driver trapped inside."

The two men in the Peugeot escaped with minor injuries. Police have issued an appeal for witnesses of the crash, which happened at 9.20am yesterday.

The family in the BMW, from Blackburn, were travelling towards Shipley. The men in the Peugeot, both from Pontefract, were travelling along Canal Road to Bradford. Witnesses are asked to contact West Yorkshire Police on 0845 6060606.

l The accident follows comments made to magistrates by solicitor Alan Petherbridge, whose client crashed after unintentionally jumping the traffic lights on Canal Road at the junction with Valley Road.

He said many people missed the traffic lights because they were distracted by the sign posting.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: "We are already looking at ways of increasing driver awareness at the junction of Canal Road and Valley Road."

T&A Opinion

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