Girl dies after horror weekend on roads

THE schoolgirl who died in a road accident at the weekend was one of seven teenagers packed into a tiny Volkswagen Polo, gardaí confirmed yesterday.

A bloodied running shoe marked the spot outside Ennis in Co Clare where Charelle Howard, 17, lost her life following the single vehicle accident just after 1am on Saturday morning.

Her death brings to 204 the number of people killed on the nation’s roads this year.

Ms Howard, from Oakwood Drive in Ennis, and six other teenagers, all aged between 17 and 19 years, had just left a birthday party and were driving to a nightclub in Ennis.

It is understood the car went out of control as it travelled down Shanaway Road.

It overturned and rolled as many as three times before landing on its wheels.

Ms Howard, who was sitting in the back seat, had to be freed from the wreckage by fire brigade personnel. The others managed to free themselves.

“It was horrific. The scene was very bloody and I saw the fire brigade lads and the guards doing their best to keep people away from it. “It was shocking,” one local said.

All seven were rushed in a fleet of ambulances to the Mid Western Regional Hospital but Ms Howard was pronounced dead on arrival.

Five were released after treatment. One girl remained in a comfortable condition in hospital yesterday.

The car was removed to Ennis garda station for a technical examination.

Gardaí have already interviewed some of the occupants of the car.

In the North police launched a murder hunt yesterday after a man was knocked down and killed in a nightclub car park in Tyrone earlier.

The 21-year-old was struck by a maroon Vauxhall Cavalier outside the Glengannon Hotel in Dungannon.

Police believe two men were in the car which allegedly drove at the victim at around 2.30am before leaving the scene.

Meanwhile, garda investigations are still ongoing following the death of 23-year-old Liam Lee in a road accident in Cork on Friday afternoon.

Mr Lee, from Grotto view, Ballinacurra, Midleton, was riding a motorbike which was in collision with a car pulling a trailer at Saleen Hill, Midleton at around 3.30pm.