Neighbours were awoken by a loud bang and shaking after a Toyota RAV4 crashed into this Auckland villa. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Neighbours were awoken by a loud bang and shaking after a Toyota RAV4 crashed into this Auckland villa. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Residents of a central Auckland suburb have described being jolted awake after a car crashed into a house this morning.
The crash occurred before 8am on Seafield View Rd in Grafton when the driver of a white Toyota RAV4 lost control and careened into the front of a villa.
Neighbour Hung Nguyen said he thought there was an earthquake.
“I was sleeping, and I heard a large thump that shook my bed,” he said.
“Then I saw the neighbour’s car in their house and all the other neighbours came out.”
The car was towed away leaving the front room of the Grafton villa exposed. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Fire and ambulance services attended the accident within 10 minutes and one person was taken to the nearby Auckland City Hospital in a moderate condition.
The car has since been towed away and the facade of the house left exposed.
One column supporting the roof of the veranda was taken out by the crash and the fretwork damaged.
Debris was piled up on either side of the point where the car entered the house, including the front door.
The effects of the impact of the vehicle to the interior of the villa were also seen, such as overturned drawers and shelving.
The car crash left damage to the veranda and front room of the villa. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Virgilio Abarintos, who lives two streets away from the crash, said he was awoken to a scraping sound “like an old garage door rolling up”.
“This is a very quiet area, so the bang was unusual,” he said.
Neighbour Hannan Munroe, who has lived on the narrow one-way street for eight years, said she thinks the owners may have accidentally applied the accelerator instead of the brakes.
“It sounded like someone’s recycling bin being hit at full force.”
“It did jolt me awake and I noticed everyone out in the street, but I went back to sleep,” she said.
