Three die as road carnage intensifies

TWO people died following a road accident near Lifford in Co Donegal yesterday and a man has died in hospital following a car crash in Killarney last week, bringing to 13 the number of people to die on roads since Thursday.

One of the latest victims died as a result of an accident that happened on Thursday three miles outside Killarney on the Tralee Road.

A 29-year-old man died at the scene while the driver of the second car, who was seriously injured, died yesterday.

Yesterday’s fatal accident happened near Castlefinn, Co Donegal. Two people died and three others were taken to Letterkenny Hospital, one suffering from serious injuries.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old woman died in a road accident in Dublin on Sunday. The accident happened on the M4 westbound lane between Lucan and Maynooth at around 10pm.

The car in which she was travelling left the road and crashed into an embankment.

Four people aged from their late teens to mid-20s were killed in road accidents in Dublin and Wexford.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses.

The weekend road death toll was more than three times that of last year despite a major garda operation aimed at curbing speed and dangerous driving. Operation Taisteal, involving at least 5,500 checkpoints, will last until today, when the bulk of travellers will be returning home.

Edward Culleton, 24, died in a single-vehicle accident near Campile, New Ross, Co Wexford, at 11pm on Saturday. Mr Culleton, from Broomhill, Fethard on Sea, Co Wexford, died when the car he was driving struck a ditch. Earlier on Saturday, a 25-year-old man died in a motorcycle accident at Blanchardstown Road South, in west Dublin. Mark Grogan, from Sheepmore Way, Blanchardstown, was fatally injured when his bike hit a kerb at 4.28am.