Soldier, 29, dies three days after road crash

A soldier has died after a road crash that also claimed the life of a friend of One Direction’s Niall Horan.

Gunner Lee Scally had been fighting for his life since Saturday’s accident.

The 29-year-old was pronounced dead in hospital yesterday, three days after the crash that killed his 19-year-old friend Quentin Reilly. Another man was also injured.

The pair were from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, the hometown of boyband member Horan, who at the weekend used Twitter to call for prayers for the three men in the crash.

Local councillor Michael Dollard said the town had been engulfed in grief.

“It’s very, very sad that two young lives have been lost. They were both very popular lads.”

Mr Scally was driving the car when it crashed into a ditch on the Mullingar to Killucan road, about 8km outside the town, at noon on Saturday.

He was a member of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment based in Athlone and an experienced soldier, having served four tours of duty overseas in Kosovo and Chad.

The three men were rushed to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, Co Offaly, where Mr Reilly, of Auburn Village, was pronounced dead a short time later.

He had been a rear-seat passenger in the car. The third man’s injuries were not life-threatening.

The teenager was laid to rest after his funeral Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King yesterday.

Gardaí have made a fresh appeal to members of the public who may have been on the stretch of road at the time, or to other motorists who stopped to give help, to come forward.