The cab of the tipper truck is completely embedded inside the house

UPDATE: Driver describes moment truck ploughed into Gants Hill home

by Amanda Nunn Tuesday, July 10, 2012
4:42 PM

The driver just behind the lorry which ploughed into the living room of a pensioner has described the moment being “like a film”.

Kevin Carr was on the A12 when the tipper truck in front of him smashed into a parked car and then careened over the central reservation into on coming traffic.

The truck then mounted the pavement before smashing into the front of a house where a 76-year-old woman lived.

Mr Carr, of Basildon, said: “It just unfolded in front of you like a film. I had visions of someone dead in that house. It went into on coming traffic, it was amazing they all managed to miss him.”

According to Mr Carr the tipper truck collided with a “parked” BMW before flattening the barriers between the duel carriageways.

Mr Carr, 52, said: “I checked the BMW and there was no one inside. It was like slow motion. Then me and another driver ran over to the house and the man in the truck was able to talk. Someone was calling out but I didn’t understand what she was saying and I thought she was under the truck.”

Mr Carr then went into the house and brought the woman out through the front door. She was later taken to Queen’s Hospital, Romford for a cut to the head.

The London Ambulance Service confirmed that a man in his 50s, believed to be the tipper truck driver, was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstone to be treated for a hand injury.

The lorry was driving between Redbridge roundabout and the Beehive Lane junction.

The road remains partially closed.

Did you see the accident? Call the newsdesk on 020 8477 3826.