Wellington crash: Witnesses stop car as woman hit on Courtenay Place, critically hurt

Police closed Wellington's Courtenay Place on Monday night after a woman in her 60s was hit by a car. Photo / RNZ

• Woman in her 60s was critically injured after being hit by a car on Courtenay Pl.
• Witnesses stopped elderly male driver from leaving the scene.
• Emergency services took both the driver and woman from the scene.

By RNZ

A central Wellington street has reopened after a crash that left a pedestrian with critical injuries.

A woman was hit by a car on Courtenay Pl about 8.30pm on Monday.

A customer at a bar on Courtenay Pl said he saw a car come around the corner at the southern end of the street and it struck a woman in her 60s as she crossed the road.

The witness said the woman was carried about 15 metres down the street until she was thrown off the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Wellington's Courtenay Pl, where a woman in her 60s was hit by a car. Photo/ RNZ

He said people rushed to help the woman and directed traffic away from the accident scene, while other people ran to the vehicle to stop the elderly male driver from leaving.

“I was on the bonnet and another person took their keys and told him to get out of the car and kept him there.”

Another witness – Paula Smith – said a German passport was knocked from the woman’s bag by the impact. Smith said the woman was bleeding onto the road from a significant head wound.

Smith said the situation was difficult, but she was proud of the immediate actions of people in the area.

“It’s when you’re proud of your city, right? When people just jump in.

“It’s horrible to see but everybody that could just jumped in to help.”

Smith said police and ambulances arrived quickly and the driver and the woman were swiftly taken from the scene.

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