A FRIGHTENED family believe they are lucky to be alive after a car ploughed into their home - with a young dad calling their survival 'a miracle'.

A family of nine, including three children, heard an 'almighty boom' when the Ford Focus ST-2 bulldozed through a fence and into their home in Ripon Road, Ronkswood, Worcester on Saturday.

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From amongst the debris, the family pulled out a wrecked wicker chair which had been outside the front door, crushed between the car and the house.

Only a minute before the crash, 17-year-old Lavinia Codruta Stanescu had been sitting in it.

Worcester News: CRASH: The Ford Focus after it crashed into a house in Ripon Road, Ronkswood, Worcester CRASH: The Ford Focus after it crashed into a house in Ripon Road, Ronkswood, Worcester

Meanwhile, just five minutes before the incident other members of the family, including children, had been standing at the exact spot where the car crashed and the family fear any one of them - or potentially all of them - could have been killed.

The car itself showed heavy damage to the bonnet from the force of the impact.

Worcester News: LUCKY: Lavinia Codruta Stanescu next to the crushed chair she had been sitting in just a minute before the crash. Photo: James ConnellLUCKY: Lavinia Codruta Stanescu next to the crushed chair she had been sitting in just a minute before the crash. Photo: James Connell

Bogdan Mihai, 25, placed a protective arm around his five-year-old son, Gabriel Alexandru Mihai, as he described their near-miss and expressed his hope that justice is done.

Mr Mihai's younger cousin, Lorena-Ionela Stanescu, 12, also lives in the house as do his mum, dad, uncle and aunt.

Mr Mihai said: "Fortunately everybody is okay. The children were scared. My cousin was there just one minute before and the rest of the family just five minutes before the accident.

"We are so relieved nobody was killed. We are all very, very lucky. It is a miracle nobody was killed.

Worcester News: SCARY: Firefighters attend the scene of the crash in Ripon Road, Ronkswood, WorcesterSCARY: Firefighters attend the scene of the crash in Ripon Road, Ronkswood, Worcester

"I was the only one who was not in the house as I had to work when it happened."

Pointing to the spot where the car hit the house, he said: "All of the children were standing right here. 

"It could have been catastrophic. We all work in a cake factory. We have not gone to work for two days."

However, he said the house was safe to live in. We have previously reported how the building was examined by structural engineers in the wake of the crash.

Worcester News: LUCKY: The family say they are lucky none of them were killed. Photo: James ConnellLUCKY: The family say they are lucky none of them were killed. Photo: James Connell

His aunt, Minezca Mihai, said: "It's crazy."

His mum, Lenuta Mihai, looked towards the heavens, clasped her hands together and, speaking in Romanian, said: "Thanks to God we're still alive. I heard a boom. I was very scared."

Dramatic pictures show the aftermath of the crash at around 2pm. The fence was flattened before the car came to a rest next to the front door. 

Pictures showed the crumpled bonnet of the crashed Ford Focus, and that the airbag of the vehicle had gone off.

An eyewitness said the driver was not there when fire service crews arrived, something HW Fire and Rescue confirmed.

A West Mercia Police spokesperson said a driver had attended a voluntary interview after the incident, and they were appealing for witnesses.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting 343i.

 

 

In particular, police are interested in hearing from anyone who might have captured video footage of the crash.

Anyone with any information is asked to report online or call 101 quoting incident number 342 of 25 June.