ACT emergency services have freed three people who were trapped underneath a car after it was driven into a shopfront in Weston in Canberra’s south.
Authorities say five people were injured in the crash, including the three workers who were trapped, the vehicle’s driver, and a fifth person who was in the store.
Emergency services are still on scene and the car remains deep inside the building. (ABC News: Adam Shirley)
The car remains deep inside the building, which houses Harmony Tree Therapeutic Massage and Day Spa, and sits across from Cooleman Court shopping centre off Brierly Street.
ACT Ambulance Operations Manager Chris Tyrrell said the five people treated at the scene were all taken to the Canberra Hospital.
Mr Tyrrell said two of those people were in a serious but stable condition, one was in a stable condition, and another two had minor injuries.
Paramedic Chris Tyrrell says it is “astounding” the victims were not more severely injured. (ABC News: Robert Baird)
“The patients had to be removed from under the vehicle,” he said.
“It’s frankly astounding that the injuries weren’t more severe.
“The fact that we’re only dealing with lower limb injuries, albeit serious lower limb injuries, is quite fortunate.”
ACT Fire and Rescue Commander Jeff Dau said crews arrived on scene shortly after 11:45am to “a scene of chaos and confusion”.
“The vehicle’s gone from the parking area [outside the shopfront] straight into the commercial premises,” Commander Dau said.
ACT Fire and Rescue’s Jeff Dau says airbags were used to raise the vehicle off the trapped people. (ABC News: Robert Baird)
“We were confronted with three persons trapped, and we also had one person in the vehicle.”
He said it took about 45 minutes to free the people who were trapped.
“We used airbags to raise the vehicle, and with that we were able to release the entrapped patients,” Commander Dau said.
One other person, who was in the store at the time, walked out of the business with only minor injuries.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash where three people were trapped under the vehicle. (ABC News: Adam Shirley)
ACT Policing Detective Sergeant Jonathan Turkich said the driver, an 84-year-old woman, was assisting with enquiries.
He said she had tested negative to drugs and alcohol, and there was “no suggestion” the crash was a deliberate act.
Detective Sergeant Turkich, who leads ACT Policing’s Major Collisions Team, said multiple police units attended the scene to assist.
“Our hearts go out to the victims, go out to the wider community impacted by this — because, as you can see from the response and the people around, it affects everyone,” he said.