by Alison Leon
27 September 2010
A man has described the scene of a Durham car crash as ‘like something from Casualty’ after an accident in Barnes at the weekend.
The crash happened on Saturday night when the 25 year old male driver of a Ford Sierra lost control and ploughed into the front of a house on Ivanhoe Crescent, causing extensive structural damage. He fled the scene, but was later arrested and charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Two men, aged 22 and 19, who were travelling as passengers had to be cut from the wreckage and were taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital after the smash with suspected spinal injuries.
The 19 year old is ‘stable,’ but the condition of the 22 year old remains ‘critical.’
Witness Mark Johnson, 29 said, “I had stayed in and had been watching Casualty thinking that the kind of things that happen on the show would never happen in real life.
“Then we heard a massive crash and I looked out the window to see the car in the house. It looked really bad.
“When you see the damage that was caused to the house the car hit, you realise it could have been much worse.”
The house damaged was unoccupied, but the occupants of two neighbouring properties had to be evacuated.