Parents mourn ‘bright, intelligent, popular girl’

The mother of a girl killed in a tragic farm accident has described her beloved daughter as a "bright, intelligent, popular girl".

In an emotional tribute to her eldest of four children, Linda Dinsberga, said, all she wanted was to hold her daughter, Paula, 8.

“People are asking me what do I need. All I want to do is just see my daughter.”

There were heartbreaking scenes at the family home in Limerick yesterday as shocked friends and relatives called to offer their condolences.

Linda and her husband Raivo had been returning from a family wedding on Sunday night unaware of the tragedy that unfolded.

Their daughter Paula had been staying with family friends, who operate a rented farm at Rusheen, Newtownshandrum, outside Charleville, Co Cork. According to gardaí, Paula and a friend, named locally as Kerija Pliesnanis, 11, apparently ran in front of a tractor being driven by the older girl’s father Edgar.

Gardaí said Mr Pliesnanis slammed on the brakes of the tractor after both girls ran across his path. The two girls were crushed under the weight of a front loader which fell off the tractor, pinning them both to the ground.

At their home in Dooradoyle, Limerick, Linda and Raivo Dinsberga cradled each other as they tried to come to terms with their loss.

Earlier in the day, they both prepared a picture of their daughter and lit a candle beside it in their kitchen where relatives and friends came to offer their prayers and pay their respects.

Clutching her daughter’s photograph Mrs Dinsberga said: “She was bright, she was so smart, and she had loads of friends. She was so beautiful.”

The heartbroken parents, who have an infant daughter and two sons, said all they wanted to do was travel to Cork to see their daughter. They were waiting for a postmortem to be carried out at Cork University Hospital.

“We just flew home last night. I can’t believe it, oh God. I just want to see her but I can’t,” Mrs Dinsberga said.

“We are waiting for [gardaí] to call us and [then] we can go and see her. Everybody asks what I need, but I just want to see my daughter.

“We have three more children. [Paula] was the oldest. We have two boys and a smaller girl.

“The gardaí were waiting for us [at the airport] to tell us. It is just unbelievable.”

The tragic accident occurred at 6.30pm on Sunday.

Superintendent Pat McCarthy, Mallow Garda Station, said: “It would appear that they ran in front of the tractor, so they were playing nearby, and [the driver] braked and the bucket fell off. It’s his daughter that is seriously injured. She’s 11. He went to the hospital immediately with his daughter,”

The tractor and front loader were removed from the scene at 1.30pm yesterday and will be subjected to a detailed forensic examination.