A family had a lucky escape when a lorry smashed into their Co Donegal house in the early hours of this morning.
The articulated lorry was traveling on the main N13 road from Derry towards Letterkenny when it went out of control.
The ‘Vanfleet’ lorry careered through a hedge and hit the house at Killverry in Newtoncunningham at around 6.45am.
The truck ploughed into the house after it had crossed onto the opposite side of the road.
The Gillespie family who live in the house were awoken by the commotion but thankfully were left unhurt.
Gardai and the ambulance services rushed to the scene of the incident.
The driver of the truck, a man in his 40s, was rushed to Letterkenny University hospital to be treated for his injuries.
However, they are not understood to be life-threatening.
Local county councillor Paul Canning, who lives close-by, said it was a “stroke of pure luck” that there were not more injuries.
“The family in the house were awoken by the bang of the lorry hitting the house.
“It’s just a stroke of luck that it happened so early in the morning and on a bank holiday when there was so little traffic about.
“Had this happened a little later in the morning on a normal weekday then there would have certainly been more serious consequences.
“The driver crossed the road to the other side what happened.
“If there had been traffic coming in the opposite direction then it would have been a lot more serious and it is not even worth thinking about what could have happened,” he said.
Meanwhile, a recovery operation was due to take place late this afternoon to remove the lorry from the house with traffic delays expected in the area.
