Diners lucky to escape with lives

NSW Ambulance paramedics assessed six people with minor injuries at the scene with three transported to Bankstown Hospital and one to Liverpool Hospital in stable conditions.
Cafe owner Assam Elomar said it was a freak, one-a-million accident of which he had never seen the likes of in his five years of owning the business.
“I ran out when I heard the loud bang,” he said.
“It was shocking, there were people on the ground crying and I saw one of our regulars who is usually there with her son but I could not see the boy and feared he may be under the car.
“Luckily he wasn’t with her that day.”
Assam said he was told the driver only just got her licence and when she was exiting the BIG W carpark, thought another car was going to hit her but slammed on the accelerator instead of the brakes.
“When the car came to a standstill, the engine was still revving so I tried to open the driver’s door to get her to lift her foot off but she was just staring ahead that’s when the male passenger leant across her and turned off the ignition,” he said.
“There could easily have been a death, look what’s just happened in Victoria with the car crashing into the beer garden, but it was only through the grace of God that everyone survived here.”
He said the shopping centre staff cleaned up the area well and business was returning to normal but they would be asking the council for permission to install safety railing across the street front.
Bankstown Police have commenced inquiries.