This is the astounding moment an excavator demolishes a home and pushes its last wall into the house next door, putting the wheelchair-bound neighbour’s life at great risk by trapping her in her house.
The concrete house at Pt Chevalier in Auckland was almost flattened at 7.45pm when the excavator with claw grips touched the last side that was still standing.
The concrete wall crashed into the next-door wooden bungalow of Kate Paterson, crushing a wooden fence beneath its weight.
The light wooden structure offers little resistance and the front bedroom wall of Ms Paterson’s house is smashed, but the worst is yet to come for her.
The concrete wall punctured Ms Paterson’s bedroom and collapsed on her driveway, but it also smashed against the gas meter outside her house
As the video footage taken by a bystander reveals, the concrete wall also smashed against the gas meter outside her house.
The hiss of the escaping gas can be heard as bystanders yell at the excavator drivers to ‘turn his machine off’.
‘You idiots,’ screams another woman.
Ms Paterson then urged her children to leave the near-century-old bungalow while she was stuck waiting for emergency services.
Work was shut down by WorkSafe, which issued a non-disturbance notice on Thursday morning.
Two investigations are underway into the failed operation.
An apology has been issued to the neighbour whose house is now unlivable as the incident left a deep gash in the home’s weatherboards and sectioned the gas supply.
Witnesses to the incident said they warned the owner of the demolished house the operation was unsafe and they should stop it before anyone gets hurt. They also contacted WorkSafe NZ several times.
On Thursday, the Auckland Council said an investigation had started into the work.
WorkSafe NZ had also been notified and was leading an investigation into safety concerns, said a council spokesman.
‘It is important all building works be completed safely and up to the building code even when a consent was not required’, he added.
The concrete house of Pt Chevalier in Auckland was almost flattened at 7.45 pm when the excavator with claw grips touched the last side that was still standing
On Thursday, the Auckland Council said an investigation had started into the work
Stan Schwalger, who filmed the whole scene, said he could see partway through the demolition process the wall was out of plumb and would fall across the driveway
A WorkSafe spokesman reported two calls on Wednesday concerning asbestos contamination and unsafe demolition practices at the property. They also reported more complaints after the botched operation.
‘WorkSafe is making initial inquiries into the matter to determine the next steps’, the spokesman told the NZ Herald.
Stan Schwalger, who filmed the whole scene, said he could see partway through the demolition process that the wall was out of plumb and would fall across the driveway.
‘We could hear him yelling “No, Les” just before the excavator nudges the side wall.
‘He was yelling at them to stop, not to pull the wall over,’ added Ms Paterson.
The owner of the Moa St property was asked to come on site and witness for himself the demolition operation. He apologised to Ms Paterson for the damage done.
After the incident, workers blocked the road for two hours to fixed the gas leak and dealt with damaged power supplies.