Painters fell 50 feet when their high-rise lift collapsed and crushed two cars outside a seaside town nursing home in the North today.
Three men operating the cherry picker were injured when the machinery overturned in Portrush, Co Antrim.
Elderly residents were unaware of the drama, but staff claimed the men were lucky their injuries were not life threatening.
Lexie Duncan, owner of Seabank Nursing Home, said: "They were in the cradle when it came down on top of the cars which were wrecked.
"I would say it was fully extended, about 50ft, and it looked pretty bad.
"The cherry picker was stretched the full length of our car park."
Ambulances took the painters to hospital from the scene at Bath Terrace, close to the seafront. Police said their injuries were not life threatening. No-one was in the cars.
The painters had been hired from a firm of contractors to redecorate the outside of the residential home.
Mr Duncan stressed that none of the pensioners realised the accident had happened. "It was only when people in the street told us what had happened that we knew people were hurt."