Terrifying moment car ploughs into crowd at Piccadilly Circus with 2 women pulled from wreckage as tourists rush to help
THIS is the terrifying moment a car ploughed into a crowd at Piccadilly Circus as tourists rushed to help the injured occupants.
Two women were pulled from the mangled wreckage which was left strewn in front of an Angus Steakhouse restaurant on Coventry Street, London.
CCTV footage shows the black Toyota speeding through central London as it veered off the road towards pedestrians.
The vehicle then, according to an eyewitness, smashed into a traffic light box, completely destroying its front.
Tourists rushed to help rescue two women trapped in the wreckage.
The driver of the car was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, cops confirmed on Wednesday.
Nelson Costa, who works at Wok and Fire about 20 metres from where the crash happened, said he “heard a loud noise, like a big bang” which he “knew immediately was an accident”.
“It was not like anything I had heard before,” he said.
When he went outside to see what had happened he “heard some people screaming” and saw a couple running from the scene.
“I’ve worked here for two years and this is the first time I’ve seen this,” he added.
“It’s particularly peculiar given the area’s 20mph speed limit.”
A shop worker at a nearby gift shop who was working at the time said he heard a “loud bang which sounded like gunshots”.
He said: “I was on the phone outside and I tried to hide at the beginning.
“It was scary, I saw the car swerve into the pavement and into the black traffic light box.
“It’s lucky it was there because it would have gone into the brick wall otherwise.
“I went over and saw the driver, who was young probably in her 20s with dark hair, who looked like she had lost consciousness.”
He added: “The girl in the passenger seat was screaming.”
Dozens of shocked passers-by gathered along the crowded path as a pedestrian was rushed to hospital for treatment.
Both the driver and one of the passengers, who witnesses say were both women, were also taken to hospital.
Dramatic video footage shows the number plate hanging off the front of the wrecked vehicle, with one of the airbags activated after the collision.
Some witnesses said the vehicle smashed through a street map sign before hitting a building.
One eyewitness claimed two unconscious women had to be cut free from the wreckage by emergency services.
He said: “There was a big crowd that gathered around the car. Everyone was so shocked.
“Two women were inside and they had to be cut out, they were both unconscious.
“Firefighters had to cut the door off. There were loads of ambulances and police vehicles.”
Another said the woman in the passenger seat “was badly injured”.
He added: “She was screaming that she couldn’t feel her left leg. She was bleeding. It took them a long time to get her out.”
Witnesses claimed the vehicle “ploughed through a row of lime bikes” and towards a group of people during the “terrifying” scenes.
They also claimed a pedestrian was “flipped into the air” after being hit by the car, leaving them lying on the floor and “covered in blood”.
Pictures taken after the smash showed the car missing a door and shards of glass scattered across the pavement.
The road was closed last night, with police taping off a large area just yards from one of London’s most popular tourist hotspots.