Nurse killed on holiday in Chile

Anne Milsted was on holiday with a friend in Chile

A nurse from Sutton Coldfield has been killed while on holiday in Chile.

Anne Milsted, 56, died when a crane fell from a lorry into a crowd of tourists in the capital Santiago.

Her travel partner Sheila Piper, a nurse at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, was knocked unconscious in the accident.

The regional director of the Royal College of Nursing said that nurses across Birmingham were deeply shocked at the news.

'Total devastation'

Ann Leedham Smith, who worked with Ms Milsted for six years, paid tribute to her former colleague in an interview with BBC Radio West Midlands.

Ms Milsted had worked as a regional organiser for the Royal College of Nursing since leaving her post as a senior nurse at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield.

Her work had made her very well known among nurses in the region. She had also just trained as a magistrate.

Ms Leedham Smith said: "For the team that I preside over, it's been just total devastation - it's like a member of the family dying.

Ann Leedham Smith paid tribute to her colleague

"It's terrible because we're quite a small knit team and Anne was so much part of it.

"Those who knew her knew that her wit and her quips could lighten up a meeting."

Ms Leedham Smith said that as the news had spread, her office had received phone calls and emails from nurses across Birmingham.

"People just can't get over how awful it is."

She said it was thought Ms Milsted had been killed outright.

Ms Piper is recovering from the accident in hospital in Chile, and could fly home next week.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said that it would be offering help to Ms Milsted's family.

This could involve making arrangements for her body to be flown back home.