Children among six hurt as car hits house in Whitefield

 'Almighty bang'

Rakha Sharma and her family were in one of the cars involved.

She said: "We were just coming home from Bury and about to turn into the driveway. A car just came from anywhere and just banged our car. Then the car just twisted and another car came from the other side.

"The airbags came out. It was really terrifying because the kids are screaming 'are yous ok?' and we're saying 'are yous ok?'. We tried to open the car doors and couldn't get out. I think a neighbour opened the back door and we just jumped out that way."

She said her two older children were at her mother's house and were "scared to come home".

"We're really stiff and really sore but we just have to get on with it — we're lucky to be alive really."

Neighbour Elaine Gardiner said: "I switched my television on in the bedroom… I was about to close my curtains then I heard this almighty bang. When I looked up I saw my neighbour's car being flung on to the verge there.

"Then I saw [a] white car come towards my house. Sort of spinning. And I thought it was coming into my house.

All I was concerned about was I could hear these children crying. And then I saw these three girls getting out of the car."

Ms Gardiner said she had been shaken by the incident.

"The whole thing is like a nightmare. Like a scene out of a film. It all happened so quick and the noise was so horrendous it was like an earthquake."

She added: "I haven't slept. I've been in shock. It's hit me. You take your life in your hands getting out on to this road in a car. It is a very, very busy road and is getting worse."

Crews from Whitefield and Broughton fire stations and the Technical Response Unit from Ashton-under-Lyne attended the scene.

Station Manager Jon Crawley said: "We released one man from one of the vehicles and crews from the Technical Response Unit have shored up the house to make it safe. We are now awaiting a buildings inspector to assess the property."