Fatal crash into house felt like ‘earthquake’ – owner
A Christchurch couple said it felt like an ‘‘earthquake’’ when a driver crashed into their house just metres from where they were sleeping yesterday morning, and died at the scene.
Details of the identity and age of the male driver killed had not been released by police by yesterday afternoon.
The car drove into the front of the house on Ruru Rd, Bromley, about 12.10am yesterday.
Paul, who did not want to give his surname, said the impact when the car hit his house was similar to the September 2010 earthquake. ‘‘We were in bed. It felt like a bloody earthquake. The whole house shook like anything. It was a bit of a shock.’’
When they got out to the street they could see the car crashed into their house and a man slumped across the steering wheel and hanging out the window.
‘‘We went out and there were people everywhere. There was a dog in the car that had been let out and was running around.
‘‘The police and the fire brigade and the ambulance were here in minutes.’’
The impact left a large hole in the front of the concrete block house and large cracks reaching up to the roofline. The interior wall of the house was also badly damaged.
The fatal crash came after several cars were smashed into on nearby Hay St early yesterday morning, with at least one car stolen.
Hay St resident Rob Thom said about six vehicles on his street had been hit by cars yesterday morning. His own car was hit and then stolen. He found it abandoned about 100 metres up the road.
He said he was alerted to the theft when he heard ‘‘an almighty bang’’ outside his house, just metres from the scene of the fatal crash.
He arrived at the scene of the fatal crash soon after it had happened. He said there were two other vehicles that had been hit at the scene, along with the car that had been driven into the house.
‘‘It is a dodgy street. There are a lot of burglaries and a lot of thefts.’’
A police spokesperson said the car involved ‘‘does not appear to have been a stolen vehicle’’.