An eyewitness has spoken of the terrifying moment a truck came hurtling towards him and a group of his friends, forcing them to leap for their lives.

Geoffrey Redmond said he and his friends were lucky to be alive after the accident outside the Bermuda Squash Racquets Association on Middle Road, Devonshire, at 1.25pm on Saturday.

Mr Redmond described how he pushed one of his friends out of the way of the oncoming vehicle and he said he had to jump for his life as the truck smashed into the wall they had all been sitting on.

He told The Royal Gazette that after the smash, he and a friend went to the aid of the passenger in the truck, who was bleeding from a head injury and pinned inside the vehicle.

“It was really scary,” said Mr Redmond. “Just a few minutes before the truck crashed into the club’s entrance, there were dozens of children playing at that exact spot.

“It is incredibly fortunate that nobody was killed in this crash.

“Five minutes earlier and we could have been dealing with fatalities. We were lucky that only one of our group was hurt and we were able to jump out of the way, but it could have been so much worse.”

Three people were taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after the accident, while the truck’s passenger had to be cut out of the wreckage of the vehicle.

Mr Redmond added: “After the crash we tried to look after the passenger and keep him calm.

“He was bleeding for a head wound, and he was pinned in the vehicle by the force of the collision. We put towels on his injuries and waited for the fire brigade and the ambulance to arrive.”

Director of Squash, Patrick Foster, told The Royal Gazette that the club was hugely relieved that no one had been seriously injured in the crash.

He said: “I was inside the club when I heard an almighty crash.

“At that time we had a lot of children in the club taking part in the youth coaching programme, so we are incredibly relieved that no one was badly hurt.

“It was a massive shock and everyone at the club did what they could to help in the aftermath.”

Fire Service spokeswoman Sergeant Russann Francis revealed that a motorcyclist and a car driver were also injured as a result of the crash.

She said: “There were three vehicles reported to have collided, leaving one passenger trapped and requiring Fire Service personnel to utilise the ‘Jaws-of-Life’ to extricate them to safety.

“Two of the bystanders received minor injuries while the third narrowly escaped injury by ‘throwing himself over the wall’.

“Fire Service Emergency Medical Technicians [EMTs], along with King Edward VII Memorial Hospital EMTs, assessed those involved prior to the ambulance transporting three persons to hospital.”