Inside the cab... chaos, shattered glass and torn metal
THE shattered glass of a windscreen lies scattered across the bin lorry cab, littering the footwell, dashboard and driver’s seat.
A set of keys are still in the ignition where they were when Harry Clarke’s refuse truck finally came to a halt against the wall of a Glasgow hotel after 19 terrifying seconds of mayhem left six people dead in its wake.
Yesterday, the first haunting images of the interior of the ill-fated lorry were made public as a fatal accident inquiry completed its first seven days of harrowing evidence.
The pictures came from police accident investigation footage which revealed the extent of the damage to the truck after it ploughed onto a busy pavement in Queen Street before smashing into the Millennium Hotel in George Square.
One photograph shows the seat where, according to evidence heard at the inquiry, Mr Clarke collapsed over the wheel. It reveals how tight the space would have been for his traumatised fellow crew members as they fought to wrest control of the runaway lorry.
The inquiry has heard how fellow binmen Matthew Telford and Henry Toal were effec- tively left with less than five seconds to react to the unfolding drama in the cramped confines of the DAF truck’s cab.
Glasgow Sheriff Court has heard how a frantic Mr Telford punched and screamed at Mr Clarke as the vehicle veered left and bounced up onto the footpath beside Queen Street, accelerating to a speed of more than 25mph.
It narrowly missed the Duke of Wellington Statue in Royal Exchange Square and collided with pedestrians before hitting the Virgin Money Bank building and careering back on to the road and across George Square.
Pictures of the outside of the lorry show significant areas of external damage caused by impacts with bins, signposts, traffic lights and cars before it collided with the facade of the hotel, still travelling at more than 10mph.
In another image, a crash test investigator is pictured leaning over a yellow security rail
from the back of the cab where the two crew members were strapped in with seatbelts. The investigator, who is said to be around ft 8in tall, is shown reaching out to activate the lorry’s secondary handbrake.
The inquiry has heard that both Mr Telford and Mr Toal were shorter than the investigator. A further picture shows an unopened bottle of beer in the stairwell to the left of the driver’s cab, one of three found after the crash.
The inquiry has heard that refuse collectors would receive gifts of alcohol and other presents from the public in the past, but that the practice was now against council policy and could result in disciplinary proceedings. Both Mr Toal and Mr Telford told the FAI they had no idea how the bottles had got there.