Reinhold Liebenberg photographs the damage as the truck embedded in his house is removed.

MURRAY WILLIAMS

Staff Writer

The runaway truck which nearly crushed a woman and her three children has been removed from the rubble of their house.

The children’s father, Reinhold Liebenberg, has again asked the municipality to put in speed-bumps.

The three Liebenberg children, Danel, 9, Deon, 12 and Tian, 13, survived after a heavy-duty truck ploughed into their home on Tuesday afternoon while they were watching TV. The truck driver also escaped but with minor injuries.

Their home is on Irene Avenue, Somerset West, the town’s longest and steepest hill.

The truck was so embedded in the house that salvage teams were concerned that the building would collapse if they tried to remove it before structural support was put in place.

Builders spent Wednesday clearing rubble. Yesterday a salvage team hauled the truck out without further parts of the house collapsing.

Liebenberg said he had repeatedly asked the municipality to build speed bumps on the road.

“We know that this house is prone to accidents and it has been hit before – before we owned it. And I have personally witnessed a car landing on its roof nearby. We (and our) neighbours have signed a petition pleading with the municipality – but they don’t seem to care,” he said.

Liebenberg said the full extent of the damage to their family home had still not been assessed.