A 39-year-old woman is in a serious condition in Whangarei Hospital and her five-year-old daughter is stable after a freak accident in a local cake shop.
The car ploughed through the front of the shop. Photo: RNZ / Lois Williams
The woman and her five-year-old daughter were in the Cheesecake Shop in Tarewa Road at 11.20am when they were hit by a car that shot over the footpath and into the shop.
The impact smashed the cake cabinets and pinned the mother and child against the counter. They were freed by fire crews.
Two ambulances were sent to the shop at about 11.15am.
A spokesman for St John Ambulance, Robbie Walker, said several other people had minor injuries.
This afternoon the hospital said the woman's injuries were serious but her child's condition was stable.
Shop owner Jenny Gu said she was in the back of the store when she heard a loud noise and came out to see the car driven by an elderly man had hit the woman and her daughter.
"The little girl was so good, she's a little bit hurt, not too bad, but her mum was hurt quite bad on her leg."
Ms Gu said bollards on the footpath would protect pedestrians in the busy shopping centre.
The damaged cake cabinet. Photo: Lois Williams
