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A woman narrowly escaped death after a wheel fell off a truck and smashed into the cafe where she was dining.
The 30-40kg wheel had been secured to the trailer but came loose and rolled its way into the Blue Duck Cafe on State Highway 75 near Akaroa, on Canterbury's Banks Peninsula, shattering two large windows and bowing the wall where it hit.
Denise Wilson, 57, was knocked to the ground among broken glass.
She was flown to hospital in the Westpac Trust Rescue Helicopter with minor injuries.
Christchurch woman Carol Baxter was also in the cafe, she said she saw the wheel bouncing towards the cafe and it sounded like a "huge explosion" when it hit.
"If it had come through the window, it would have killed her (Ms Wilson)."
Police said if the wheel had hit the window and entered the cafe, the accident would have been disastrous.
Akaroa Senior Constable Steve Ditmer was outside the cafe at the time.
He said it was "an absolute freak of a thing".
The truck's owner Roger Withell said it was an "unfortunate accident" and he was glad the injured woman was not seriously hurt.
- NZPA
