Crows Nest truck driver had no idea he had hit an elderly woman until a passerby yelled out

EXCLUSIVE: ‘I had no idea until someone screamed for me to stop’: Cement truck driver, 35, says he didn’t know he’d hit an elderly woman, 83, crossing the road with her husband – killing her instantly

  • Two people were run over by a cement truck in northern Sydney on Thursday
  • A woman in her 80s has died, and a man in his 80s has been taken to hospital 
  • Truck driver Nathan Kent said he initially had no idea he had hit the couple
  • Mr Kent, 35, has been taken for mandatory testing and has not been charged 
  • In the moments after the crash tradesmen attempted to lift truck off the woman
  • Her husband, who was injured nearby, could be heard yelling: ‘My wife, my wife’ 

Truck driver Nathan Kent (pictured), who hit and killed an elderly woman on Thursday, said he initially had no idea he had struck her 

A truck driver who hit and killed an elderly woman as she crossed the road with her husband, says he had no idea he had struck the couple until a pedestrian yelled out for him to stop.

Nathan Kent, 35, was driving a cement truck throughout an intersection at Crows Nest, north Sydney, just after 11am on Thursday when he struck the couple – killing the 83-year-old woman instantly.

Just hours after the tragic accident, a shaken Mr Kent told Daily Mail Australia he has no idea how the accident unfolded.

‘I didn’t see a thing. I didn’t know anything until someone from the sidewalk yelled out for me to stop,’ Mr Kent said.

 

The 83-year-old woman was crossing the road with her husband at the intersection of Albany Street and Willoughby Road (pictured) just after 11am when she was hit. She was dragged close to 15 metres down the street before the truck

The 83-year-old woman was crossing the road with her husband at the intersection of Albany Street and Willoughby Road (pictured) just after 11am when she was hit. She was dragged close to 15 metres down the street before the truck

‘I’m really shaken up, I can’t even imagine what they (the victim’s family) are going through.’

Mr Kent was taken to hospital for mandatory testing. He has not been charged. 

Witnesses said the couple were crossing at the lights near the Willoughby Road and Albany Street intersection when the truck came around the corner and hit them.

The woman was dragged along the road under the truck for close to 15 metres, as her husband watched on in horror.   

He was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Meaghan Woodhouse, who works at Charlie Lovett cafe on the intersection, said she ran out and sat with the woman’s husband as the tradesman tried to free the woman.

‘As I arrived I heard them yell out: ‘There’s somebody under there’,’ Ms Woodhouse said. 

‘Her husband was on his knees, looking desperately down the road, but I didn’t know at that point that the woman was likely his wife.’

A woman aged in her 80s has died after two pedestrians were run over by a cement truck at the intersection of Albany Street and Willoughby Road at Crow's Nest, in north Sydney

A woman aged in her 80s has died after two pedestrians were run over by a cement truck at the intersection of Albany Street and Willoughby Road at Crow’s Nest, in north Sydney

Daily Mail Australia understands the couple had been dropped off at the intersection by their daughter about 10.50am, before they entered a nearby Coles supermarket.

Close to 15 minutes later the couple left the store, but as they crossed the road to go back to meet their daughter the cement truck hit them both.

After learning his wife had been killed, the woman’s husband fell to one knee on the ground and screamed: ‘My wife, my wife’.

‘The truck was turning left and I saw the old man and the old lady, the old man was holding the old lady’s hand,’ Jiraphat Seesai, who works at a nearby shop, said.

‘They got crushed by the truck and the old lady (went) under the truck.

‘The old man said: ‘My wife, my wife’.’  

In the moments after the crash, tradesmen at a nearby worksite rushed to the scene and tried to lift the cement truck (pictured) off the woman. A blue tent was placed next to the truck by police

In the moments after the crash, tradesmen at a nearby worksite rushed to the scene and tried to lift the cement truck (pictured) off the woman. A blue tent was placed next to the truck by police

Daily Mail Australia understands the couple had been dropped off at the intersection by their daughter about 10.50am to do their shopping at a nearby Coles supermarket (pictured left)

Daily Mail Australia understands the couple had been dropped off at the intersection by their daughter about 10.50am to do their shopping at a nearby Coles supermarket (pictured left) 

NSW Ambulance inspector Carolyn Parish told Sydney Morning Herald the woman was found trapped under the truck.

‘The scene was quite stressful and traumatic for all emergency services, quite heart-wrenching for paramedics particularly,’ she said. 

Ms Parish described the scene as ‘very distressing’ and ‘one of the more traumatic’ scenes she had attended. 

There are road closures in the surrounding areas as local officers commence inquiries into the accident.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk