Four pedestrians hurt in car crash

(First Edition)

THREE children and a woman were seriously injured when a car crashed into them in west Belfast early yesterday.

One of the injured, a young girl, was said to have suffered a fractured skull in the incident, in which the car appears to have gone out of control. Its driver had to be protected from an angry crowd.

The injured were Donna Walsh; her two children Danny, 8, and Donna, 5; and 10-year-old Andrea Grey.

Mrs Walsh was taking the children to St Luke's primary school on the Twinbrook estate.

The car, which had been stolen earlier, knocked down all four, crushing one of the children against railings.

The RUC said later that two 14-year-olds had been charged in connection with the incident.

A graphic account was given by a man who works in a nearby employment office. He said: 'I was in the office when I heard a thud. I looked out of the window and saw some children lying on the pavement with a car up against the railings.

'When we came out we found three children and a woman just lying scattered along the footpath. One of the kids was actually pinned between the car and the railings. We got in and moved the car out of the way so that we could get at the child, who seemed to be unconscious. The woman and the other children were just lying there.

'There didn't seem to be much sound out of the child who was up against the fence but he did come round later on. The woman and the other two children were in quite a lot of pain, and there was blood lying around.

'We brought the young girl into the office and someone stayed with her. She was cut badly round the head and her knees were badly cut.

'The woman was lying on her stomach with head injuries and what seemed to be quite extensive bruising. The other child was pretty badly injured too.

'A crowd gathered and they were very, very angry. They could have turned into a lynching mob.

'It was all very sickening. Some of our lads, who are grown men, were quite upset and we had to send a couple of them home.'