Woman hurt as car careers off street

An elderly pedestrian was injured and a motorist narrowly escaped death when a car careered off a street in Limerick yesterday before nose-diving onto a stairway leading to a cellar restaurant.

Witnesses said it was a miracle nobody was walking on Hartstonge St when the incident occurred at lunchtime.

A woman, believed to be in her 70s, was hit by the car, before it travelled onto a footpath, ploughed through iron railings, and ending up wedged on the steps leading down to the Raviolo Verde restaurant.

The driver of the 01-C Renault Kangoo managed to get out the passenger door before clambering 20ft up onto the street. Witnesses said the driver, although visibly shaken, was not injured. He is believed to be Eastern European.

The woman, who was crossing Hartstonge St, was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick. Her condition is believed not to be life-threatening.

Ann O’Regan, who lives nearby, said: “I went to the woman who was lying on the road. She was trying to get up and had her phone out trying to contact her husband, God help us. She was talking about her car, which she had just parked nearby. She seemed to have been hit in the back by the car and was in pain. Her bag and shoes were scattered all over the place.”

Ann-Marie Bourke, a 26-year-old student, also rushed to help. She said: “I rang the ambulance and was talking to her. The ambulance control wanted to know if she was conscious and her age. I asked her for her age, but she was confused. She seemed to be concerned about her car which she had just parked.

“It seems she had just got out of her car and was walking across the street when this other car turned off O’Connell St, hit her and ended up down the steps of the restaurant after crashing through the iron railings.”

A Garda investigation is underway.