Five-hour delay after 2 drivers seriously injured in crash

THE main Cork-Dublin road was closed for nearly five hours yesterday after a head-on collision left two drivers with serious injuries.

The collision, between a BMW and Volkswagen Golf, occurred on the N8 at Caherdrinny, near Mitchelstown, just after 5.30pm. Major delays were caused to rush-hour traffic as emergency services tried to clear the wreckage.

One of the drivers is believed to be in his late 20s, while the other was in his early 30s.

One is understood to be from Cashel, Co Tipperary, while the other is from Dundalk, Co Louth. They were rushed to Cork University Hospital, along with a female passenger from one of the cars.

Gardaí said the woman, who is in her 20s, wasn’t suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Diversions were lifted shortly after 9pm.

Meanwhile, some of the casualties in a separate accident in Co Clare had to wait in the rain for nearly an hour before ambulances reached them.

Four people were injured in the two-car head-on crash, which occurred shortly before 6pm at Crusheen, on the main N18 Ennis-Galway road.

While the first ambulance arrived within minutes, it took more than half an hour for the second ambulance to arrive.

It took a further 30 minutes before another two ambulances reached the incident.

It is understood one of the Ennis ambulances was returning from a call in Limerick at the time of the crash, leaving just one ambulance to cover emergencies in Ennis.

Ambulance personnel in Ennis have repeatedly complained about the lack of resources in their area.

Last Wednesday, an ambulance from Ennis had to make two trips to an accident because of a lack of back-up vehicles.

Those injured in yesterday’s accident, three women and a man, were taken to Ennis General Hospital for treatment.

They were reported to be in a stable condition last night.

The road was blocked for over an hour while traffic was backed up for several kilometres in each direction.

A five-year-old Belgian boy remains in a critical condition in Cork University Hospital. He was on holidays near Mitchelstown when he was struck by a car on Thursday.