Inquiry into garda collision begins

GARDAÍ have launched an investigation after four officers were injured in a collision between two garda vehicles in Cork city.

A high-powered Emergency Response Unit (ERU) Volvo patrol car, and a Ford Transit garda van, were responding to a call at about 1.30am yesterday when they collided at the junction of the city’s South Link Road and Boreenmanna Road.

Both vehicles were travelling in the same direction at the time of the accident.

The driver’s side of the patrol van suffered extensive damage in the impact.

Four male gardaí aged in their 20s and 30s were rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital for treatment.

Three were discharged within a few hours but the fourth, who had suffered head injuries, was kept in overnight for observation.

A senior garda spokesperson described his injuries as serious, but not life-threatening.

The Garda Ombudsman was informed of the incident as a matter of course.

However, gardaí at Anglesea Street are conducting the investigation into the incident. All officers involved will be interviewed once they are deemed medically fit.

Superintendent Barry McPolin appealed last night for anyone who may have seen the accident, or seen the garda vehicles in the moments before the crash, to contact them at Anglesea Street on 021-4522000.

A section of the South Link Road was closed and traffic diversions were in place until around 2pm yesterday while a full technical examination by forensic road traffic accident investigators was conducted.

Yesterday’s collision was the second accident in that area in a few weeks.

A 30-tonne tanker carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid overturned at about 4pm on March 8 last as it turned left off the South Link Road on to the Boreenmanna road.

The driver escaped injury and emergency services stayed at the scene for almost seven hours as officials from the Environmental Health Agency assessed the scene. Half of the acid had to be removed from the tanker to allow a crane turn it upright.