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.