THE owner of a restaurant near Worcester city centre has described the “shocking” moment a fire engine crashed and hit customers.
Tano Cinao, co-owner of Benedictos on Sidbury, said he had been sitting with regulars in front of the restaurant just moments before a fire engine crashed with a car and swerved onto the pavement on Saturday night (April 25).
Two people, whom Mr Cinao said he knows well, were seriously hurt.
A man in his 30s, who was the driver of the fire engine, was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury through careless driving. He has since been released under investigation.
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“I was sitting with them just moments before,” the restaurateur said.
“The kitchen called me in and I was about to go back to sit with them when I saw the fire engine was coming towards the restaurant. It was absolutely crazy”.
Mr Cinao said it had been a busy evening, not just for the restaurant, but with plenty of people out in the city centre enjoying the sunshine.
Staff have been left in shock by the incident, but the owner said he was proud of how they responded in the immediate aftermath.
“It went over the pavement where people were sitting and there were a lot of pedestrians but luckily no one was walking there at the time,” he said.
“For us and the staff, it was shocking. We’ve been here 23 years and never seen anything like that.
“If it had gone into the building, it could have been a tragedy.
“The staff reacted fantastically and we had a lot of support from people afterwards.”
While the initial road closure on the night did impact trade, the restaurant remains open as usual.
Mr Cinao also said that the two injured people were recovering.
“We did lose trade because people couldn’t drive or walk to us but for us, the most important thing is that no one died,” he said.
“It is business as usual.
“The staff are a bit shocked but we try to help them understand that this is life and it’s a one-off.”
