Stephen Maguire
A family had a lucky escape when a lorry smashed into their Co Donegal home in the early hours of this morning.
The articulated lorry was travelling on the main N13 road from Derry towards Letterkenny when the incident occurred.
The ‘Vanfleet’ lorry careered through a hedge and hit the house at Killverry in Newtowncunningham at around 6.45am, after it had crossed onto the opposite side of the road.
It is understood that a large tree took the brunt of the force of the truck just seconds before it struck the two-storey stone house.
The family who live in the house were awoken by the commotion but were left unhurt.
A runaway truck ended up in the garden of a farm house in Donegal. Photo: Joe Boland/North West Newspix
Gardaí and ambulance services attended the scene and the driver of the truck, a man in his 40s, was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital to be treated for his injuries.
However, they are not understood to be life-threatening.
Local county councillor Paul Canning, who lives nearby, said it was a “stroke of pure luck” that there were not more injuries.
“The family in the house were awoken by the bang of the lorry hitting the house.
“It’s just a stroke of luck that it happened so early in the morning and on a bank holiday when there was so little traffic about.
“Had this happened a little later in the morning on a normal weekday then there would have certainly been more serious consequences.
“If there had been traffic coming in the opposite direction then it would have been a lot more serious and it is not even worth thinking about what could have happened,” he said.
Meanwhile, a recovery operation was due to take place late this afternoon to remove the lorry from the house with traffic delays expected in the area.
