He realised it was probably a crash and ran outside, along with some of the cafe’s staff and customers.
A car crashed into a power pole at the intersection of State Highway 2 and Tuapiro Rd on Monday morning. Photo / Supplied
“I could hear the crackling of the power lines,” van Loon said.
“They were arcing on the ground where they came down.”
Van Loon and the cafe’s chef ran around the kiwifruit patch to make their way to the car.
There, van Loon saw his dad was on the phone, having already dialled 111.
“There were puffs of smoke coming from the car, but I’m not sure if that was from the power lines burning the grass.”
Two people were in the car, a male driver and a child.
The driver initially appeared unconscious but as he came to, he got out of the car through the passenger side. The passenger stayed in the car until the power to the downed lines was shut off and rescuers could reach them.
Van Loon said emergency services arrived about five minutes after the crash, a fire truck coming first.
Later, he saw on his security camera footage that the car had drifted over the centre line and hit the pole on the other side of the road just off screen.
