Panania: Ute and SUV crash into home, knocks it off foundation

A couple has described the moment a car driven by a P-plater ploughed into their southwest Sydney home of 45 years, knocking it off its foundations, saying “the whole house shook”.

The Toyota Hilux sustained damage on the driver’s side. Picture: Alan Ritchie

• Four men brutally attack 19-year-old: Police
• Business accident ends in massive fine

An elderly couple have been left in shock with a damaged house after a ute driven by a P-plater and a SUV crashed into their Panania home.

Alan Ritchie and his wife Lynne were watching TV at about 8.20pm on Thursday night when a Toyota Hilux and a Nissan X-Trail collided at the intersection of Marco Ave and Marco St and then smashed into the front of their house.

The impact caused their Panania Ave home to shift about 30cm off its brick foundations.

Mr Ritchie, 71, said emergency services arrived at the scene quickly.

“The whole house shook (from the impact),” he said. “Four fire engines, two ambulances, about four police cars came out.

“Both of them ended up in my property … against the house.

“They hit each other, there was an almighty thud. The older driver looked OK, he said he’s go bruised chest because all of the airbags in his car went off.”

Two cars crashed at an intersection before ploughing into a home in Panania, dislodging it by 20cm and ripping cracks throughout its walls. Picture: Tony Ibrahim

The intersection where the accident took place. The site where the Stop sign was uprooted can be seen at the bottom of the photograph. Picture: Tony Ibrahim

The couple rushed outside and found the two vehicles had uprooted a stop sign on the corner of their block, severed large trees in their front yard and shattered the sliding door of a spare bedroom.

The 17-year-old driver of the Toyota Hilux was taken to Bankstown Hospital for an injury to his right leg. No one else was injured, including his 17-year-old passenger, the 46-year-old driver of the Nissan X-Trail, and the elderly residents of the home.

The two cars crashed into the corner of the Panania Ave home. Picture: Alan Ritchie

Inside, the impact has caused large cracks to spread along the walls, tearing apart the home the couple had lived in for 45 years.

“Our insurance company has started the process (to fix it),” Mr Ritchie said. “We’re still living here … (firefighters) did an assessment to see if there was an issue and decided there wasn’t.”

Emergency services attended the scene, taking a 17-year-old to Bankstown Hospital for treatment. Picture: Alan Ritchie.

On Friday, Mr Ritchie spent the morning surveying his property, as well as clearing car parts and glass from his front lawn. Police are still investigating the incident.

They are appealing for anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.