Mercedes ploughs into pharmacy shop window

PALMA
A 74-year-old man drove his car through the plate glass window of a pharmacy in Calle Nuredduna in Palma yesterday, causing widespread damage but miraculously few injuries.

Customers and staff were given the fright of their lives when at about 11am, the driver of a Mercedes who was intending to park directly outside the pharmacy, apparently put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, mounted the pavement narrowly avoiding two passers-by and slammed the front of the vehicle through the 3.5 metre wide plate glass frontage. The man, of limited physical mobility was driving a vehicle especially adapted for the handicapped and had been on the final parking manoeuvre of squaring up the car in the free space when he pressed the accelerator by mistake. As soon as the accident occurred, Emergency services were called and police, firemen and medics quickly appeared on the scene. The driver of the car sustained slight injuries as did one of the passers-by who had had her hand hit when she put out her arm in automatic alarm on seeing the vehicle mounting the pavement.

A large number of onlookers gathered to watch a breakdown vehicle come and remove the car from the pharmacy premises and place it in the free parking space, and to stand by whilst Palma's municipal cleaning company Emaya came to sweep the vast swathes of glass from the street.

The cleaners stopped short of clearing the inside of the premises, however, as the pharmacy is privately owned - much to the irritation of the staff..