Takeaway frontage demolished in crash

Kwangchow Takeways proprietors Sam and Jaia Su got a heck of a fright on Tuesday afternoon when a car suddenly veered off Wainui Road and smashed through the front of their shop. They were out the back at the time and were relieved no customers were in the shop. Picture by Liam Clayton

The front doors of the Kwangchow Takeaway shop in Wainui Road were demolished on Tuesday afternoon when a car went out of control and smashed into the store.

It happened at around 3pm, much to the shock of takeaway shop proprietors Sam and Jaia Su.

Witnesses said a car, driven by an older woman, veered off the road suddenly, mounted the kerb, and crashed through the doors of the shop.

It came to rest 3.5m inside the shop, against the shop counter, with door fittings and glass scattered everywhere.

Fortunately, the proprietors were out the back of the shop when it happened.

“We heard this very big bang,” Jaia Su said.

“It was very scary.

“It was lucky there were no customers in the shop at the time,” she said.

The driver of the car was shaken but not injured.

Police responded and Wainui Road was partially blocked until around 3.40pm.

They have an inquiry under way into the circumstances of the accident.

A team of glaziers were on site soon afterwards making temporary repairs to the entranceway to the shop.

They said it might take four weeks to get the aluminium joinery needed for permanent repairs.

The proprietors hoped to be back in business yesterday.