Shock as lorry skids and crashes into house on Duleek Street

AS A Drogheda couple slept peacefully on Tuesday night, a 10-ton coal lorry ploughed through a side wall and wrecked the front portion of their two-storey home.

Mr James Dyas (65) and his wife, Philomena (64), who live at 17 Duleek Street, were awakened by a crashing noise around midnight.

James, a casual docker, stated: ‘When we heard the noise we both got out of bed to investigate as we thought the house had fallen in. I went down to the kitchen but was unable to open the front door as part of the wall had caved in. There was a breach of a few feet in the red brick wall and I made my way out through it.’

Mr and Mrs Dyas, although badly shocked, didn’t receive any injuries.

The driver of the vehicle, Paddy Byrne (40) of 58 Ascal a hAon, Yellowbatter, said that the lorry skidded when he tried to avoid a car as it rounded a bend.. ‘It then mounted the footpath, crashed through a small wall and ploughed through the front portion of the house,’ he added.

He was accompanied by his helper Joe Campbell (40) from 7 Ascal a Do, Yellowbatter.

‘ The left hand side of the lorry was embedded in the house and I got an awful shock. We then cleared the lorry, which was crossways on the bend, to safety,’ he stated.