PEDESTRIANS on the Donegall Road “could have been killed” after car thieves caused rush hour chaos by ramming a stolen van into two other vehicles. The PSNI arrested one man at the scene of the collision on Monday afternoon at 4pm shortly after a van was stolen from the Lisburn Road area. The Donegall Road was closed for a time as officers attended the scene, forcing a traffic build-up on nearby Tates Avenue.
Although no-one was seriously injured in the incident, a local councillor slammed the “reckless” thieves and warned the outcome could have been much worse.
“To drive like this on the busy Donegall Road is not just reckless, it’s crazy,” said Bob Stoker.
“We have summer schemes and crèches running nearby, while there is a busy row of shops just where the crash happened.
“People could have been killed here as a result of this, and I hope that anyone prosecuted in connection with this is punished to the full extent of the law.
“As it is, two vans have been destroyed as a result of this incident, and that’s going to cause work difficulties for people.
“But with so many people in the area it doesn’t bear thinking about what kind of tragedy we could have been looking at.”
