Tire detaches from car, strikes teen on Santiago sidewalk

A 19-year-old student walking on a sidewalk in Santiago, Chile, was struck and knocked to the ground by a tire that detached from a passing car and flew toward him at speed. The incident, captured on security cameras, occurred on the morning of Thursday, October 29, on Avenida Los Leones near the intersection with San Pío X in the Providencia neighborhood.

The footage shows the young man walking along the pavement when a wheel that had come loose from a passing vehicle suddenly appears, bounces across the roadway and slams into him. According to local media reports, the tire first struck two other cars traveling on the road before veering onto the sidewalk and hitting the pedestrian.

The force of the impact threw him to the ground, and passersby quickly rushed over to help. Another person managed to stop the tire, which continued rolling at high speed after separating from the vehicle.

Tire detaches from car and strikes 19-year-old on Santiago sidewalk (Photo: social media)

The student was taken for medical treatment at the Santa María clinic in the city. Despite the force of the blow and the disturbing images in the footage, medical examinations found that he suffered only bruising, including to his forehead and chest, and his life is not in danger.

The story took an unexpected turn when municipal security officers located the driver whose car had lost the wheel. In another video published by the Chilean news channel T13, the driver can be heard explaining to inspectors: "The wheel came off. The car came out of the garage two days ago."

When the driver asked to go and retrieve the detached wheel, the inspector made clear to him that the wheel was elsewhere, because it had struck a person. The driver sounded concerned and asked whether the young man who was hit was in serious condition and whether he had lost consciousness. The inspector replied that the student was being treated at the scene and was not unconscious.

In another report it was noted that the driver also claimed to inspectors that the wheel had not been properly tightened. The mayor of Providencia, Jaime Bellolio, confirmed that the vehicle from which the tire detached had been identified, and noted that municipal teams arrived at the scene within about four minutes of the report and assisted the injured man.

The unusual footage drew widespread attention on social media, mainly because of the extraordinary chain of events that ended with injury to a pedestrian who had no involvement in the accident whatsoever.