A West Auckland woman who was thrown under a stage after a BurgerFuel-branded car collided with a brass band at yesterday’s Avondale Christmas Parade has described people “crying in pain” and searching for their children in a chaotic mass of people.
The 34-year-old band member told the Herald the whole incident happened so fast, there was no time to react.
“We [the band] had just finished playing our last song, and the conductor had cut off the music so the next band could come through,” she said.
“The last three floats were the BurgerFuel float, a Waitākere band and the Santa float.”
“I was right up against the stage, and the last thing I remember was my partner laughing at the MC, who was saying to the BurgerFuel fleet, ‘We all know you can rev your engines - how about you rev some vouchers for the Avondale community?”
“In a split second, I was underneath the stage.”
Relieving Auckland City district commander Inspector Jacqui Whittaker said it appeared a vehicle that was part of the parade experienced a mechanical malfunction and rolled slowly into two pedestrians who were standing in front of the stage.
Six people were injured.
The band member was thrown under the stage with two other members, one of whom had her foot caught by the car.
“One of the ladies whose leg had been caught in the corner was crying in pain.”
She told the Herald of her relief that the stage had an opening where they had been standing
“If there had been poles, we could have been caught between the front of the car and the stage. It was still moving towards the stage, and it is quite low and could have probably fit under the stage.”
“One lady threw her instrument aside, climbed out and rushed to look for her two children, who were with the band.”
As soon as the car stopped, the 34-year-old found a space to crawl under and away from the stage.
“The men were trying to push the car back to get it off one of the band members who had her leg caught.
“My family members were rushing around looking for me. I was standing there in a daze. I don’t even know how long I was under there.”
Witnesses described the scene as “chaos” as tensions were high, and it is understood members of the crowd jumped on the bonnet of the car and smashed their fists on it, and Māori wardens had to hold them back.
The West Auckland resident is feeling the pain today and finding bruises she didn’t know she had.
“I didn’t go to hospital as I didn’t think I required medical attention, as I thought it was cuts on my knees,” she said.
“I found bruising on my forehead, knees, and my hip pulling.”
A ambulance service spokesperson said: “Hato Hone St John were notified of a motor vehicle incident in Avondale at 11.43am and responded [by sending] three ambulances, one rapid response unit and one manager to the scene.”
The Herald understands those who were admitted to hospital have now been checked out.
Another band member said he saw the conductor and the conductor’s daughter get hit by the car.
“The band conductor’s daughter was at the front and she wasn’t able to play, so she was actually filming us and the parade.
“She was the one who was hit at the front and dragged five metres.
He said they are all now in shock and disbelief.
“A lot of band members only just joined in July. It was [the] first parade for most of them,” he said.
“We have a lot of members, some as young as 10 or 11, who just started playing instruments in July.”
“A lot of them are quite upset.”
He said the feeling went from high spirits, with everyone laughing and having fun, to chaos.
“It went from 100 to zero.”
The Avondale Business Association is seeking a “sincere apology” and calling on BurgerFuel to rectify the situation.
Chairman Marcus Amosa said in a statement: “Rather than attributing the incident to a mechanical failure, the community urges BurgerFuel to acknowledge the driver’s actions, express regret and commit to rectifying the situation.”
Amosa said the BurgerFuel vehicles were revving and screeching as they approached the stage, and created skid marks behind the lead vehicle.
“Concerns immediately arose among the crowd, particularly regarding the appropriateness of such vehicular behaviour in a confined space where small children were present,” he said.
“It is essential for BurgerFuel to move beyond citing mechanical failure as the sole cause and openly address the driver’s inappropriate conduct.”
Amosa said a sincere apology from BurgerFuel and a commitment from the company to work towards making amends for the disruption and distress caused during the event was important to the community.
“BurgerFuel needs to draw a clear line between their brand and the behaviour of their drivers,” Amosa said.
“An acknowledgement of the driver’s actions and a genuine commitment to making things right would be more appropriate.”
BurgerFuel NZ head of brand and marketing Nikki Soons said: “We are shocked to hear about the incident that has occurred involving one of the BurgerFuel promotional vehicles and we are very concerned for anyone injured. We do not yet know what caused the accident and are currently gathering all the information. We have a BurgerFuel representative at the scene and will be working with police to ascertain what has happened.”