Girl, 11, crashes car into Hengelo home; house severely damaged
An 11-year-old girl crashed a car into a house on Albert Verweijstraat in Hengelo on Saturday afternoon while driving with her family. No one was injured, but the house sustained significant structural damage.
The crash occurred around 3:15 p.m. when the girl, sitting in the driver’s seat with her father beside her, lost control at a T-junction approximately 50 meters from their home. According to the father, who confirmed the details to Tubantia, his daughter had asked to drive for a short distance. As she approached the intersection, he told her to brake, but she accidentally hit the gas pedal instead. The car went straight through a front wall of a nearby house. The girl’s mother and a baby were in the back seat at the time.
All occupants of the vehicle were unharmed. The residents of the home were working in the backyard during the incident and were also uninjured. Neighbors, alarmed by the loud crash, initially feared a gas leak. Emergency services responded quickly and cordoned off the area.
The front of the blue car crashed deep into the living room, pushing in the entire facade. Debris from a brick garden wall was scattered across the lawn. A resident pointed out it was remarkable that the vehicle narrowly missed a lamppost standing directly in front of the house.
The residents, visibly shaken, remained outside the home on lawn chairs surrounded by family and friends. Their sons said the family was shocked but relieved no one was hurt. “It wasn’t done on purpose,” one of the sons told Tubantia. When asked for his opinion about the child driving, he paused and added, “What can you say?”
The family of the girl remained at home following the crash. The father confirmed to Tubantia from the doorway: “That is correct,” when asked if his daughter had been behind the wheel. The girl was reportedly extremely upset.
