Weekend accident brings road deaths to 389

THE death of a 40-year-old man in a single vehicle accident in the early hours of yesterday morning has brought the number of deaths on Irish roads to 389 this year.

Although it was the only fatal accident reported in the Republic over the weekend, it marks the end of a week in which 16 people lost their lives on the road.

In a horrific crash in Belfast, also in the early hours of Sunday, two young people were killed and eight others were injured when a taxi and another car collided.

The man killed in Co Roscommon at 3.10am yesterday was named by gardaí as Raymond Gill of Corlis, Castlerea.

The car he was driving hit a ditch near his home and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim was not carrying any passengers and local gardaí are investigating the circumstances of the crash.

The number of people killed on the roads is already 15 more than the 374 who died last year, and the end-of-year death count is likely to make this year the most deadly on Irish roads since 2001.

The Roscommon accident brings the road death toll this month to 28, compared to 34 for all of December 2004.

The scene of yesterday morning’s crash in Belfast was one of the worst ever witnessed by firefighters, who had to cut all 10 victims from the wreckage of the two vehicles.

The two victims were a 15-year-old girl and a 22-year-old man. Both were travelling in the white Vauxhall Cavalier which collided with the taxi at a bend in the Falls Road, near St Louis’ Comprehensive School.

Among those injured, most of them reported to have been in the same car as the deceased, two people were in a critical condition in hospital, three were seriously injured and three others were in a stable condition last night.

One of the cars was jammed up against the walls of the city cemetery, as a result of the impact.

Firefighters had to use cutting equipment to free the victims from the wreckage, and said that many of the injuries were horrific.

A section of the Falls Road was closed to traffic as a result of the accident.

Sinn Fein Assembly member Michael Ferguson said people attending Mass on the Falls Road yesterday were shocked at the road tragedy.

“Everyone I have spoken to this morning as they went to or returned from Mass on the road is just horrified,” the West Belfast MLA said.

“We are in the month of Christmas and are all preparing for celebrations and the thought of this dreadful news being brought to someone’s home doesn’t bear thinking about,” he said.