A resounding crash followed by the sound of scraping metal and tearing wood surprised Ostend residents last week after an SUV hurtled down Causeway Road before smashing into a wooden fence and damaging a large tree.
Police, ambulance and fire services arrived on the scene at around 7.20pm on Wednesday, to find three people dazed and injured but on foot.
“They were very lucky. It was a high-speed impact and the vehicle was badly damaged,” says firefighter Rob Smith.
“I was surprised to see the three people get out with no issue – they were walking wounded. St John ambulance officers assessed them, and we tried to find their mobile phones which were propelled from the vehicle on impact.”
Mr Smith says the driver and front passenger airbags didn’t deploy.
“This may have to do with where the initial impact was. The curtain airbag, which runs along the drivers’ side did deploy however, so the vehicle may have made initial contact in that area.
“It’s lucky there was nobody on the footpath and that another vehicle wasn’t involved. It’s not often we get high-speed impacts and we see a vehicle that has incurred so much damage. •Sophie Boladeras
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