Two hospitalised after crashes in hailstone storm

Two women are recovering in hospital after they lost control of their vehicles following a heavy downpour of hailstone on the M18 motorway in Co Clare yesterday. Emergency services responded to four incidents on the same stretch of the southbound carriageway 2km north of Crusheen.

In the first collision, reported at around 9.30am, a van spun of out control, ploughed into an embankment before overturning and leaving the lone occupant trapped.

Moments later, a car smashed into a barrier just a few hundreds metres away. The driver escaped relatively unscathed after her car struck a section of barrier designed to buckle and absorb the energy from a collision. Seconds later, another car spun out of control and left the motorway metres away. Another lost control on the other side of the motorway but the occupants were not hurt.