Two families have had to be re-homed after a speeding car ploughed into a block of flats in Methil, causing serious structural damage.
A woman carrying her infant daughter had a narrow escape when the BMW smashed into her parked Peugeot as she stood just five feet away, before crashing into the building behind her.
And a shocked wheelchair-bound man was showered with debris as plaster flew off his kitchen wall in the impact of Monday night’s collision.
Police are still hunting the BMW driver who fled the scene in the wake of the crash, leaving two injured passengers behind.
As structural engineers surveyed the damaged Fife Council flats at Erskine Court, a single child’s shoe in the remains of the wrecked Peugeot served as a chilling reminder of the potential consequences.
Siobhan Swanson described the collision as being like a bomb going off.
She had been in the kitchen of the flat occupied by her uncle William Wallace, 53, which suffered the worst of the damage.
“All I heard was a bang and the tumble dryer moved and then the whole wall moved,” she said.
“The plaster came flying off the wall and hit my Uncle Willie on the head.
“He’s in a wheelchair and can’t move his legs and he now has a great big bruise on the front of his head.”
Siobhan, 30, said she was then alerted by the sound of screaming from outside.
“I went out and the lassie from upstairs was standing holding her daughter in her arms.
“She was about to put the bairn in the car when it was wrecked.
“There were two people still in the BMW and the girl was bleeding so someone phoned an ambulance.”
A number of residents were evacuated from the flats as engineers assessed the damage but most were allowed back in later that night.
Mr Wallace is staying with Siobhan for now however as his flat is uninhabitable, while the woman from upstairs and her young daughter are with relatives.
Fife Council housing manager Keith Brown said officers had temporarily secured the building in advance of a full investigation to determine the extent of the damage.
A police spokesman confirmed officers were investigating “a hit and run” at around 7.45pm.
“The driver fled the scene, however officers are looking to trace him as quickly as possible and are following a positive line of inquiry,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police on 101.
Latest in series of crashes into buildings
The Methil crash is the sixth involving vehicles crashing into buildings in Fife just 10 days.
The mayhem began on Saturday June 4 when a car towing a caravan ploughed into a holiday home in Crail after the driver took ill at the wheel.
The following day, a car being driven by Glenrothes teacher Gordon Suttie crashed into a garden in the town’s South Parks Road after he became ill.
Sadly, he died in hospital a few days later.
On Tuesday June 7 a man was charged after the car he was driving careered off the road in the early hours and smashed into the Co-op in Bennochy Road, Kirkcaldy, causing damage to the back of the building.
Then, just two days later patients had to be evacuated from St Andrews Community Hospital after an Audi ploughed into the back of it, causing substantial structural damage and disrupting services for several days.
On Saturday the occupants of a house in Crosshill had a lucky escape when a Ford Focus carrying a couple and two children ploughed into the building.
The male driver was taken to hospital but everyone else was unhurt.
