- Pickup truck crashes through wall of Florida airport inot baggage reclaim hall
- Two rental car workers had a lucky escape when the truck crashed into the counter
- A baggage reclaim belt worth $250,000 was wiped out in the crash
- The driver was seriously injured and had been transported to a local hospital
Two National rental car workers had a lucky escape when a pickup truck crashed through a wall at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and into the baggage reclaim hall in the early hours of Friday morning. The 2015 GMC Sierra truck came to a rest after colliding with the rental car desk where the two employees had been sat behind.
Surveillance footage released by the authorities shows one employee hurling himself behind the desk to avoid the truck. “It’s amazing no was hurt,” said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kenn Watson said in comments to the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
40-year-old Juan Monsivis, was behind the wheel of the truck and had been driving with a cancelled driving licence. He was seriously injured in the crash and sources suggest he may not have been wearing a seatbelt. The driver has previously been arrested for DUI, although officials didn’t rule out a medical incident as the cause for Monsivis losing control for the truck.
One of three baggage reclaims belts was seriously damaged in the crash with damage estimated to be worth more than $250,000. Much of the mess has already been cleared and airport authorities don’t anticipate any delays or further disruption at the airport.
This was the scene inside the @SRQAirport after a truck crashed through and exterior wall and tracked through the terminal baggage claim area. pic.twitter.com/tUhgxxyMqh
— Carlos R. Munoz 📰 (@ReadCarlos) 19 December 2019
Thankfully, the last flight had arrived 20-minutes before the 3am crash so the airport terminal was pretty much deserted.
Law enforcement confirmed that officers had spotted Monsivis driving recklessly a short time before the crash and had attempted to perform a traffic stop but had been unable to catch up with him. Monsivis crashed through a chainlink fence on the airport perimeter and then through a cinder block wall into the airport terminal.
