Diners in lucky escape after car crashes into cafe

A GROUP of people had a lucky escape yesterday when a car mounted a footpath and crashed into the outside seating area of the cafe where they were having breakfast.

Morning rush-hour traffic along O’Connell Street, Limerick City, came to a standstill as several cars were involved in a collision.

One car, a Ford Focus, was left badly damaged in the middle of the street, while a blue-coloured Hyundai Atoz narrowly missed members of the public as they sat outside the cafe.

“One car was travelling up from the GPO area of the city and collided with the blue Atoz on O’Connell Street near a yellow box junction and mounted the footpath hitting the seating area of the coffee shop.

“There were sirens and ambulances. It seemed like a fairly dramatic crash in the early morning in a traffic laden city,” said one onlooker.

Emergency services attended the scene and traffic was stopped for a short time near the Cecil Street junction.

The blue Hyundai Atoz car was badly damaged in the crash and the female driver was taken to hospital as a precaution.

She was brought to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, and is said to be in a stable condition.

“It looks like one of the cars went up over the footpath, possibly to avoid another car, or it could have been pushed onto the footpath by another car. There’s a lot of damage to the cars,” added another passer-by.

It’s understood no staff or customers at Cafe Crème were injured.

Any witnesses can contact Henry Street Garda Station on 061-212400.

Meanwhile, a man was taken to hospital after a two-car collision outside Limerick City yesterday.

The crash occurred near the Athlunkard Bridge on the Corbally Road, at Shannon Banks shortly after midday. The road was closed for 20 minutes as emergency crews freed the man from the vehicle.

Witnesses can contact Ardnacrusha Garda Station on 061-345136.