Children injured in hit and run
It has been revealed that seven people, two of them children, have received severe personal injury after being involved in a hit and run.
The individuals had been attending a bonfire when the car accident happened. The two young victims are being treated at a local hospital.
The collision occurred in the Village area on Monday morning.
Police have launched an inquiry into the incident and are investigating whether the driver panicked or purposely drove into the bystanders.
After speaking to police and eyewitnesses, a community worker in the area said that her understanding was that the teenage driver had become confused and that his actions had not been with intent to harm.
However, police are appealing to the motorist of the silver car to come forward. It is believed that he was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
Nine ambulances arrived on the scene while other people with minor wounds had walked to the nearby City Hospital.
Other eye witnesses believe that the driver was malicious and purposely drove into the victims. An Ulster Unionist Councillor who was at the bonfire, said he believed the man’s actions to be deliberate.
“The driver slowed right down and then sped up again, straight at the crowd. The car had a Belfast registration so you would think that it would be someone who would be familiar with the area,” he stated.
DUP councillor said the injured included a woman in a wheelchair. She added that local people wanted to know why the PSNI had not closed off the road to through traffic during the bonfire.
She commented on the horror that unfolded: “There was a scene of utter chaos afterwards. People were lying on the road screaming and there were nine ambulances there helping the injured.”
The collision happened alongside national rioters who had clashed with police at the nearby Broadway roundabout.
Man dies and four injured after joy riding accident
In relevant news, it has emerged that a young male driver has died and four have been injured, after they crashed whilst in a stolen car.
The collision, which happened in County Antrim, occurred when the vehicle ploughed through a hedge and burst into flames in a field, off the Leathemstown Road.
There were six people inside the Subaru car when it crashed. The driver died, whilst four were taken to get treatment.
Two men in their 20s were on life-support machines in the Royal Victoria Hospital, another man remains seriously ill and the condition of the fifth is described to be stable. Another man attempted to flee the scene but was found close by with head wounds.
Emergency crews rushed to the scene of the accident on the Leathemstown Road, near the junction with the Cochranstown Road, on Monday morning.
Locals pointed out that speeding and fatalities are a familiar occurrence on the route, due to there being several miles of hilly, twisting road.
Updated on 12/07/2010