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AN overnight stopover in Albury turned into a nightmare for one couple yesterday when their car was crushed by a tree branch.
Sydneysider Yanci Yu and his wife awoke yesterday morning ready to continue their journey to Melbourne, only to find their car had been rendered undriveable by the large gum tree branch, in the car park of Rydges Albury.
Another two cars were also struck, but Mr Yu’s Mazda copped the brunt of the damage.
He and his wife were in the middle of moving to Melbourne from Sydney and had arrived at Rydges about 9.30pm Saturday.
“We’re insured but it’s still not good,” he said.
“We’ve maintained this car very well, it’s less than three years old.
“The moving company will be waiting for us in Melbourne and we’ll probably be out of pocket for the hire car.”
Another driver, Melbourne’s Brendan Swifte, couldn’t believe his bad luck either — he arrived at Rydges about 10pm Saturday after travelling for a work Christmas party and parked in one of the few spaces left.
“I’m hoping I’ll still be able to drive it but these guys are screwed,” he said, nodding sympathetically to Mr Yu.
“Mine’s a company car so they will take care of it but I’m more concerned about getting home to family.”
Tim Keown of the Albury SES said crews were called about 9am.
He said they used a chainsaw to cut the large branch off the cars, moved the debris aside and roped off the area for public safety.