Employers pay tribute to A9 Kingussie crash victim
NETWORK Rail have paid tribute to one of their workers who was killed in a horrific fireball crash on the A9 on Monday night.
John McInnes, (57), died when the works van he was a front seat passenger in was engulfed in flames after a head-on smash with a car at Lynchat near Kingussie.
Mr McInnes’s colleague, Billy Best, (53), of Braeriach Court, Aviemore, was driving the works vehicle.
Mr Best had a miraculous escape although he is described as being in a serious but stable condition in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
The crash also claimed the life of the 39-year-old man from Dundee who was driving a Chevrolet Lacetti.
Mr McInnes, who lived at Duthil by Carrbridge, was a well known rail figure in Inverness.
He worked in Network Rail’s maintenance depot in the city and had been a rail worker for more than 30 years.
Mr McInnes and his colleague had been working in the Kingussie area and is understood to have been travelling back home when the accident happened.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: "John had worked for the railway for three decades and was a popular member of the track maintenance team in Inverness.
"He will be sorely missed by his colleagues and all who knew him and we are offering as much support as we can to his family and colleagues during what is an extremely difficult time for them."
His family are too upset to comment.
Northern Constabulary is investigating the accident which shut the route for seven hours.
Such its severity, medical records may have to be used to formally identify the victims.
