Two people remain in Wollongong Hospital after an out-of-control truck ploughed through multiple cars and into a unit complex at Fairy Meadow on Monday.
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The truck was travelling down Old Mount Ousley Road when the driver lost control about 10.45am.
The truck careened through the roundabout at the intersection of the Princes Highway, mounted the curb and hit a number of cars as it travelled through the Fairy Meadow McDonald’s car park.
A car, driven by a 61-year-old woman, was pinned by the truck against the Northgate unit complex fence.
As of Tuesday morning, she remained in a stable condition at Wollongong Hospital. She had been trapped in the car for about 15 minutes and was treated by paramedics for head and chest injuries. On Monday, NSW Ambulance’s Illawarra district inspector Terry Morrow said she had suffered a concussion, had broken ribs and pelvic injuries.
The 23-year-old driver of the truck remains in hospital in a stable condition.
Inspector Morrow said the truck driver had a pre-existing back injury that was aggravated in the crash.
An 18-year-old woman, whose silver Honda CRV was collected as she approached the Princes Highway roundabout, was treated by paramedics for neck and spine tenderness.
She has been released from hospital.
Emergency services workers have marveled at how few casualties resulted from the crash, in a car park full of vehicles.
“It had the potential for great amounts of … people [being injured], however I think because the people were in McDonald’s itself … they were empty cars that were hit,” Insp Morrow said.
“Approximately 10 years ago I came to a similar situation at this location, where a truck had gone through the drive-thru and there were a number of people seriously injured.
“However these people have been very, very fortunate. They’ve got away only minor, really, injuries, under the circumstances.”