Witnesses sought to 2 fatal crashes
Both incidents happened on Saturday, with three women and a girl from the same family killed in a two-car collision outside Mullingar.
The Westmeath crash, the worst tragedy on Irish roads this year, happened when a car carrying the three women and a girl aged 10 was in collision with a 4x4 on the N4 Dublin to Sligo road at 7.30am.
The Nigerian women were named last night as Fanny Oraweme Akenbor, Queenent Esezobor, Pat Jeeti and her daughter, Jessica. It is believed there were believed to be travelling for a religious service. The three adults were aged from their late 30s to early 40s.
The driver of the 4x4, aged 50, was taken to hospital but his injuries were not believed to be serious.
Gardaí have appealed for anybody who may have seen a 2003 Nissan Almera or a black 2006 Kia Sorento in the area on Saturday morning to contact them.
In the second crash, an elderly man was injured when his car left the road at Ballinode in Co Monaghan.
It hit a ditch before coming back onto the road again and colliding with a car travelling in the opposite direction.
The man was brought to Cavan General Hospital where he died a number of hours later. A woman, aged 37, who was in the second car, was not injured.
Witnesses to the crash, which happened at midday, are asked to ring Monaghan Garda Station at 047 77200.
Meanwhile, in Donegal one man drowned and another went missing in separate incidents.
A fisherman’s body was recovered after his boat sank off Inishowen on Saturday.
In a separate incident, a massive search was launched for the skipper of a yacht which was found anchored off Sheephaven Bay with nobody onboard.
In the first incident, the Marine Casualty Investigation Board is probing the mysterious death of Danny McDaid, aged 56.
The body of Mr McDaid, a father of two daughters, from Glengad, was recovered from the waters off Kinnego Bay just after 11am. Pieces of the boat were found floating nearby.
Meanwhile a search resumed yesterday after a large yacht with nobody on board was found anchored off Sheephaven Bay.
Gardaí boarded the yacht, ‘Wood Magic’, after a family member raised the alarm.
