Five teenagers have died and four other people have been seriously injured in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a motorway in Ireland. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Gardaí confirmed the bodies of the youths, all male, had been removed from the scene of the two-vehicle collision, which happened in the early hours of Sunday on the M9 in County Kildare. The crash occurred at junction 3 of the motorway, near Athy, at about 3am.
The occupants of the second vehicle involved, three women (two in their 30s and one in her 20s) and a boy, all remained in hospital with serious injuries. The female driver and front-seat passenger were taken to Tallaght university hospital in critical condition. A female rear-seat passenger, in her 20s, was taken to St Luke’s general hospital in a serious condition. The third passenger, a child, was taken to the Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin in Dublin, also in a serious condition.
Garda commissioner Justin Kelly described the head-on collision as “horrific” and said “in some cases” vehicles were being driven on the wrong side of motorways for social media likes. He said: “These family members were travelling innocently when they were struck by a vehicle being driven the wrong way down the motorway. This horrific incident, after the recent collision on the M50, shows how irresponsible and dangerous driving on the wrong side of the motorway is.”
Kelly added that the incident has been referred to Fiosrú, the police ombudsman, so he could not comment in detail, but he said gardaí do what they can to stop such vehicles. “Gardaí are put in a really challenging situation dealing with such incidents,” he said.
Last weekend, nine people were injured in a head-on collision on the M50 in Dublin involving a car travelling in the wrong direction. Gardaí are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the collision or had dashcam footage to come forward.