Priest haunted by scene of young people in car

IT is the vivid memory of seeing a very young person among the dead in the car that will linger forever in the mind of a priest called to administer the last rites at the crash scene.

Killarney curate Fr Kevin McNamara got the urgent call at 7.30am and was faced with a spectacle of “utter devastation” on arriving there.

“I can still vividly see a small tracksuit bottom and I said to myself, ‘this is a child’. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Next thing his brother was pronounced dead,” he said.

“It was when I reached there that there were two who were alive and were taken to Kerry General Hospital. The fire brigade were working unbelievably hard to get the three out from the back seat.

“The first youngster that came out (of the car) was pronounced dead straight away. The second came out; it was another teenager. The terrible shock then was that we discovered they were actually brothers.

“They were then trying to resuscitate the girl, and it was just awful to see really. After a short time, she was pronounced dead at the scene as well.

“You cannot describe what happened. All these families are very well known and respected in Killarney. The whole community is raw and hurting from the scale of this tragedy.”

Fr McNamara, who blessed and anointed the victims, said everyone felt helpless and bewildered.

As he stood on the embankment into which the car crashed, he said there was a strange silence and no traffic was passing.

“All you can really do is try to support the families and stand shoulder to shoulder with them at this most awful time. Killarney and these families need people’s prayers now.”

Special prayers were recited for the victims and their families at the Mass celebrated by Fr McNamara in St Mary’s Cathedral, Killarney, last evening.

Johnny O’Sullivan, owner of the Mazda car sales garage across the road from the crash scene, said the first indication something had happened was when he found the road closed and a garda told him there was a serious accident. “We have been here 20 years and there has never been a fatal accident at that particular bend during that time. There have been fatal accidents further down the road towards Killarney.

“I was shocked when I saw the fire brigades and the ambulances. News then began to filer through that a terrible accident was after happening.”

Assistant chief fire officer for Kerry, Michael Flynn, said Killarney fire brigade received the call out at 7.15am.

Firefighters first removed the two injured people from the wreckage. They were taken by ambulance to Kerry General Hospital.

The driver and two rear seat passengers died in the car and their bodies were then removed. Cutting equipment had to be used to lift the roof of the car.

“We are all aware that these young people are from the community and it is very hard for all of us in the services, including gardaí, fire service and ambulance to go out and do the job when it could involve family members of or people we know.”

He said counselling was available to personnel should they require it in the aftermath of such a serious accident.

Mr Flynn declined to speculate as to the cause of the accident, saying this was a matter for the Garda investigation.