British soccer player Michail Antonio is recovering after he was involved in a car accident in Essex, England, resulting in him having to be pulled from the wreckage by firefighters.
On Saturday, Dec. 7, Essex Police said in a news release that they were called to the scene of “a serious collision” in the town of Epping, northeast of London, just after 12:50 p.m. local time.
The crash involved only one vehicle, a Ferrari, and police confirmed that the driver was taken to a hospital. The Essex Fire Service confirmed in a statement to The Guardian that its crews arrived on the scene just after 1 p.m., and firefighters discovered that “a man was trapped in his car and worked to release him by 1:45 p.m.”
West Ham United confirmed that Antonio, 34, was the person in the crash, writing in an update on Saturday that the striker was in “stable condition.”
“Michail is conscious and communicating and is currently under close supervision at a central London hospital,” the team said on Saturday, noting that they would share another update at a later date. “At this difficult time, we kindly ask everyone to respect the privacy of Michail and his family.”
The Guardian also reported that the team issued its update after images circulated on social media which allegedly showed the wrecked Ferrari. The vehicle shown in the photos had extensive damage, and the outlet also said that “there were unconfirmed reports that Antonio was airlifted to [the] hospital.”
An investigation is currently underway, and police are asking for witnesses and anyone with dash cam footage of the accident to contact them.
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Antonio originally joined the Premier League team from Nottingham Forest in 2015 and also played a stint on the Jamaica national team. He has played in all 14 matches with West Ham this season and has since become a record-breaking player. ESPN reports that in September he became the first West Ham player to record 100 Premier League direct goal involvements with 67 goals and 33 assists.
Jamaica head coach Steve McClaren and Michael Ricketts, president of the Jamaica Football Federation, expressed their support for Antonio in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
“On behalf of the entire group of players, support staff and technical staff, I would like to wish Michail a speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with him at this time,” McClaren wrote.
Ricketts added, “I would like to wish Michail a safe and speedy recovery. At this point, let us keep him in our prayers as he recovers.”
West Ham is set to play the Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday, Dec. 9.
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