Ambulance carjacked while worker slept in the back

The employee was able to jump out the rear doors as the ambulance slowed down at a junction during 50-mile police chase

An ambulance worker catching some sleep in the back of his vehicle woke up to find himself the victim of a carjacking, US authorities have said.

Awoken by the incident, the worker was able to escape by jumping out the back of the ambulance as it slowed at a junction, police said.

The ambulance was parked outside Lovelace Medical Centre in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, when a man and a woman took it at around 3am on Saturday.

The pair were arrested in connection with the theft after officers gave chase - for some 50 miles - eventually stopping the vehicle by puncturing its tires with road spikes on Interstate 40.

Police spokesman Elder Guevara confirmed that the hospital employee was asleep in the vehicle's rear when it was taken, but was able to jump out when the ambulance slowed down.

Police have not yet released the names of the suspects or the ambulance worker, who was uninjured.